Eartha Kitt was one of few entertainers to win accolades in show business as a triple threat, namely, as an accomplished singer, dancer and actor. In fact, nothing affirmed her multifaceted talent in this respect quite like the fact that she was nominated for the Grammy, Tony and Emmy awards.
Yet curiously enough, Kitt will probably be remembered most for the signature feline growl she fused into many of her songs, which of course was her way of paying homage to the most celebrated role she played as Catwoman in the 1960s Batman TV series.
What few people realize, however, is that Kitt was as condemned by her peers for opposing the war in Vietnam as (Harold) Pinter was celebrated by his for opposing the war in Iraq. Granted, she may have incited her own condemnation when she impetuously damned President Lyndon Johnson for waging this war at a White House luncheon hosted by his wife Lady Bird Johnson.
Specifically, according to the New York Times, when Lady Bird Johnson invited Kitt to share her thoughts on the unavoidable topic of the Vietnam war, which at the time was threatening not only to derail her husband’s presidency but also to rip the country asunder, Kitt provoked the First Lady to tears by purring as follows:
You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed. No wonder the kids rebel and take pot.
Meanwhile, the biracial Kitt – who married a white man when interracial marriages were still illegal in as many as 16 states – incurred the wrath of blacks worldwide by touring South Africa in 1984. Frankly, she became the pinup girl for Ronald Regan’s fatuous policy of constructive engagement with the Apartheid government of South Africa by proclaiming – rather naively, if not impudently – that she was touring the country to “wean the regime by raising awareness of racism”.
Nevertheless, she has clearly won a place in the pantheon of legendary divas alongside the likes of Josephine Baker and Dorothy Dandridge.
Kitt died on Christmas day of cancer. She was 81.
NOTE: I would like to think that God’s sense of humor is such that He would’ve had Kitt perform her huge hit “Santa Baby” as soon as she entered the Pearly Gates.
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