UPTOWNflavor

I had my first brush with greatness in the late 1970s. My mother and her friend Claudette gathered all the girls together, dressed us in our Sunday dresses complete with ankle socks and patent leather shoes, and off we went to the theater to see Timbuktu starring the legendary diva, Eartha Kitt. After the show we all huddled anxiously at the backstage door to be ushered into her glamorous dressing room– the kind that you only see in old black and white Hollywood movies. I was speechless! Ms. Kitt was bubbly and effervescent. She spoke to us as if we were old family friends in that purrrrrrfectly sultry voice that has become her signature trademark, along with her incredibly shapely legs.

Ms. Kitt turned 80 years young last year, yet she continues to charm and seduce audiences of all ages. Who hasn’t heard her sexy rendition of “Santa Baby,” or recall her charged up role as Catwoman in the classic episodes of Batman, or as Lady Elouise in the movie Boomerang? Her most recent role has been on stage as the lead character in “Mimi le Duck” on the New World Stage in New York.

Kitt has been fighter all her life. Standing at 5′4″ (and I would venture to say that is in stilettos), Kitt was raised by an aunt in Harlem after being abandoned by her parents. She went on to carve out a career for herself in show business after being inspired by a caring teacher that gave her a matinee ticket to a Broadway show. Throughout her life Kitt has been ostracized for everything from her mixed race heritage to her outspoken nature. Kitt recalls in an interview with Nichelle Gainer, “When I walked through Harlem, they used to say, “Why don’t you go back downtown; This is after they would read about me in the papers with a white man. But, the funny thing is, I went out with Sammy Davis too, but no one said anything about that!”

Eartha Kitt has survived it all, from car accidents to her most recent battle of a diagnosis of colon cancer. True to form, Ms. Kitt is living her life to the fullest — continuing to work, continuing to laugh, and continuing to fight. C’est Si Bon!

First published:Blogcritics, January 2007; Republished April 2008