Eartha Kitt, a sultry singer, dancer and actress who rose from South Carolina cotton fields to become an international symbol of elegance and sensuality, has died. She was 81.
Kitt, died in New York, where she was being treated for colon cancer, her publicist said. Her daughter, Kitt Shapiro, was by her side.
She was performing almost until the end, taping a PBS special six weeks ago in Chicago, Illinois. The show is set to air in February.
RELATED LINKS
- Eartha Kitt Refused to Be in Anyone’s Shadow (LINK)
- Singer, actress Eartha Kitt dies at 81 (LINK)
- Eartha Kitt, a Seductive Legend of Stage and Screen, Dies at 81 (LINK)
Wow!
I thought this woman would live FOREVER!
She is TIMELESS and just a LEGEND & ICON.
RIP Miss Eartha.
RIP Eartha Kitt. She will most definitely be missed. LOL @ #2, i luved her in Boomerang. “oh MAARCCUSSS, I’m not wearing any panties…” let me stop.
WOW! Just WOW! She was a true legend as well as a icon! Her work was remarkable, and to know that she pushed forth through her illness shows her tenacity! She was a true diva!, and the best cat woman ever! *Santa Baby*! RIP Ms. Kitt, may peace and blessings be among your family!
I agree with #12 BEST CATWOMAN and she spoke her mind too,was a great singer …Eartha was the bonb ..God rest her soul
Aw, I loved her! R.I.P Eartha
She lived a long, happy life and found meaningful work for herself…it isn’t a tragedy…celebrate her life.
#50 I hear you. I wouldn’t watch Beyonce mar this woman’s history for anything…an actress who can’t act “portraying” an agent provocateur when she can’t even speak.
She was 81 peopl, I think she lived long enough……
RIP
God bless this phenominal legend & her family, I truly regret not seeing her performing @ the Carlye last season – what an inspiration – to still be performing strongly in her golden years!!!! That voice, that face, those legs that purrrrrrrr
I love Eartha, she had so much class and was so beautiful. May she rest in peace. My thoughts and prayers are with her friends and family.
#67. imma be nice for the holiday season:
Oh, well then if you’re so cool with it, let me know how you’ll feel about knocking on heaven’s gate when you’re 80. Death is sad, no matter the age. People are just trying to express their sentiments and condolences.
And please remember that the spirit doesn’t age even though the body does.
May she rest in peace. She was truly a talented individual.
I am so devastated about this it really breaks my heart that someone as talented as her has passed on…
I think we all can agree that her famous line in Boomerang will always be remembered
Maaaaaaaaaaaaaarcus Darling
So Very Soorry to here that! I first seen it reported on E! News…… She will be missed very much…..they said it comes in threes and it did this year as well……The Black community must take heed of all our richness in culture and community..
Peace and Love goes to her family and a Mighty “Thank You” for all that she’s done for the world
You will be missed, “Santa Baby” and “Cat Woman”
I loved her im Boomerang. She was awsome, and Santa Baby is my favorite Xmas song. RIP Eartha, not to many people last as long as u did ‘in the entertainment industry’. That in itself is an accomplishment.
Thank god for youtube, we can always check you out there.
my comment was nothing more than a ‘senseless’ joke!
No one could purr like Eartha Kitt
Watching her in repeats of the 60′S Batman series launched me in to
puberty.She was one of the sexiest women to put on the Catwoman costume
A terrific sultry voice.R.I.P lovely lady.
She truly is an inspiration. Someone on here said it right. This women came from the cotton fields to making a name for herself in Hollywood. If she can do this. Then my beautiful Black people we can do whatever we set our minds to.
We hear the word Diva thrown around alot or people we have some people in Hollywood who actually believe that they are one. May Ms. Kitt serve as a prime example of what and elegant TRUE DIVA is.
May you rest in peace Empress Kitt.
etta was a true legend, will miss her she opened doors for many “women of color”.
Eartha Kitt was definitely a “trailblazer”. She set standards for whoredom and dealing with white men that famous black women would follow for years to come. They definitely owe her their gratitude.
OMG..I LOVE HER,ESPECIALLY IN BOOMERANG!! RIP U WILL BE MISSED
wow….this comes as a surprise…RIP MS KITT….and condolences to the family
sidenote….i bet Bey is on the phone with the movie studios as we speak
R.I.P. to a legend, icon, master of seduction . she really inspired me to modern jazz and tap dance … she will really be missed … the real catwoman rrrrrrrrrrreow.lol
The real “Cat Woman”, but moreover, she was the real first Black Sex Symbol as well….long before there was Anna Mae Bullock, aka Tina Turner….I was looking at a recent picture of Ms. Kitt, and she was doing broadway a few year ago…and her legs/body was to kill for someone her age!!!! She was a Black American Beauty….inside and out!!! I keep worrying that our black stars always go out in two’s or threes (Bernie Mac/Issac Hayes, etc)….I keep holding on that our timeless beauty Lena Horne….wondering if her time to leave us is soon too!!!–God Bless them all…Black Trailblazers who have come and gone!!!
But somewhere in the back of my mind….I keep hearing “((((((MARCUS DARLING, I DON’T HAVE ANY PANTIES ON)))))”….LMAO!!!!
RIP MS KITT…YOU WILL BE TRULY MISSED
R.I.P. Eartha, The Real Catwoman!
RST IN PEACE EARTHA.SHE WAS MOST DEF A LEGEND
RIP, Eartha, you have been such an inspiration to me in your lifetime! We will carry on your legacy. We will keep your memory alive!
Judah, you are very ignorant and disrespectful to say the following: Eartha Kitt was definitely a “trailblazer”. She set standards for whoredom and dealing with white men that famous black women would follow for years to come. They definitely owe her their gratitude.
My brotha, I am a black man in Hollywood, it’s way more famous black men who don’t date black women than the opposite but u okay with that? You just don’t like sista’s dating out the race, huh? Why shouldn’t they, we not marrying them, over 70 percent of sistas are single. We not at home helping them raise our children and when we get a good black woman, we all about the playa mentality, keeping her in line instead of manning up. Millions of us in prison and we (men) are only 6 percent of the population. Many of us are also DL and here your wack ass is, disrespecting a legend.
If a sista can find herself a white millionaire or billionaire to show her respect, I’m all for happiness.
You are pathetic and I bet you only date beckys but can’t stand for sistas to date outside the race, the heart has no color, whatever makes you happy but brothas need to step up and take care of their business. They have fallen off bad, Bill Cosby said, this will be the only race where the women will be leaders, and outpace the men. Black women already graduate from college more than black men, 2-1. Many of these sistas are bogged down with kids that they raise alone but they still taking care of business. Black men don’t have kids to raise and love hanging out with their boys and instead of a family setting.
Man up Judah and start respecting your elders and our black legends.
I listened to her version of Santa BABY all december and i have harriet the spy then came love where which is an independent film and Holes. I really was a fan of hers. I love BEYONCE but i didn’t want her to play Eartha before she died and I definately don’t want her to play her now. That would ruin Beyonce’s career and Eartha’s reputation. Oh representing SC
Ah man, I am really sad. I love Ms. Kitt. I was just watching a special the other day on her. She was one incredibly sexy woman. I can only wish to be like that when I get older.
I WOULD LIKE TO PAY ALL MY RESPECT TO MS.EARTHA KITT,ONCE AGAIN WEV’E LOST ANOTHER LEGEND,MAY SHE REST IN PEACE.AND MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO HER FAMILY AND EVERYONE ELSE.I KNOW HER FAMILY IS HURT.
Love her, i hope she will RIP. The best catwoman EVER!! Loved how she would purr like a kitten, what class. Also such a shame she got screwed for speaking out against the Vietnam war, Just saying what everyone else was feeling but didn’t ahve the balls to speak out. Freedom of speech unfortunately got her blacklisted in the good old US of A by Jim Crow-era white folk!! SMDH
@ 78
Eartha not Etta ……
Judah, look around the penis she sexed and acknowledge THE black woman that confronted the President and First Lady face to face, speaking against a war that was killing our young men and women and addressing poverty in our nation. I’m sure you’ll probably say she laid with Whitey and they stabbed her in the back blah, blah, blah, but what she did took guts and she paid the ultimate price with her career. Despite all that, she soildered on and managed to have a career here and abroad. Given the current times and your stance on Bush and the War in Iraq, I would’ve thought you’d at least give the woman some love, lol. She wasn’t a pussy like Kanye and Co. hiding behind a camera or a blog.
this was a woman who spoke her heart and her mind and paided a price for it. its called blacklisting for the folks who are scared to speak when injustice looms large in this united states of america and around the world. you see these are my hero’s and shero’s.i have spoke my heart and mind to and have raised the ire of you folks who belong to your clicks and clacks or such said secert societys. the blacklash is apparent but i shall press on. because i won’t bow and will speak my heart and mind all these so-called powers who think they have control and run this show have thrown me in the fiery furnace. cause i won’t bow to you people who think you are the likes of king nebuchadnezzar’s i will not bow. i read a article in time mag where this person a stanley couch disparaged malcolm x saying he was nothing more than a heckler of the civil rights movement etc when i read this it dawned on me. the jack benny’s of this world is still at the wheel and stanley couch you are his “RODCHESTER” . malcolm is my hero and was a prophet of his time who tried to tell people like you you don’t have to bow. but for you who do bow don’t disparage me.cause your republican counterparts are coming out w/ all kinds of race hate dialog the head of the republican party saltman to be a republican like a skunk can not change his stripe. he’s going to always stink. these are people [republicans] the are the descendants of plantation owners ,slave masters, and evil overseers. its in their genetics and the dna. there is white male backlash about this election. now wait I’AM NOT WHITE GUILT BASHING but the race hate takers rushshedda limpbraugh, sharon hannity, neal nazi boortz beatrice o’reilly are spewing hate daily on their talk radio and fox news shows. if i did and said what they are saying the president elect or bush and his rouges. secret service and fbi would be kicking my door in. but the good ol boys can get by w/ this divisive crap.even my own race will turn on you black folks i’am feeling your blacklist but even for you i will not bow.lik meshach-sharach-abednego i won’t bow even to you your blacklist means nothing.cause if you would look in that furnace that you folks and hypocrites have thrown me in you will see a light or was it a lamb or the angel of the lord. i wiil get by.
I’m sorry to hear this, but it seems she had a long and productive life. “Santa Baby” is a true classic, and her role in “Boomerang” still makes me choke with laughter. She’s an icon that will be missed.
who doesnt know who this woman is. I loved her voice. grrrr.
r.i.p. mama
Dang RIP.
@ 93 Kmniles
@ 94 Caper
@ 91 Azzedinealiafan
You are so right Ms Eartha Kitt spoke her mind and stood for what she thought was right at a time when going against the Establishment was and still is very costly. I salute her.
wen was she ever alive….?!?!!?!?!??!
“I don’t have any panties on” Lady Eloise……love her R.I.P
R.I.P Eartha. U will b missed deeply
http://www.thepetitionsit...aying-an-icon-eartha-kitt
Eartha Kitt was a true legend. She was BORN to play Catwoman, and she put an indelible stamp on the role. And who could forget the original “Santa Baby”? R.I.P Eartha, you will truly be missed.
“Marrrrcus Darrrrling”
R.I.P
Lets not just focus on her entertainment appeal. Eartha was kicked out of the United States for standing up against war. She spoke eleoquently to Lady Bird Johnson about the atrocities of war, and just like today because she did not “behave,” she was considered unpatriotic. She spoke a multitude of languages. When Einstein himself visited the US, the reporter tried to ask him a question, and he did not understand what the English speaking reporter. Eartha turned and spoke to him in German and her and Einstein had a conversation in his native language. Now, that’s diva.
I get disappointed when I see my people on these Beyonce and Ri-Ri posts on CL, and they describe success as only having money, or noteriety. It lets me know that we have learned nothing from people such as Eartha, Dandridge, or Horne. Their iconic status occurred not because of name recognition, not because they were beautiful, it was because they were classy and they were intelligent. Education is something that no one can take from you. Even when you are long forgotten by audiences, and a new “it” girl emerges, knowledge is something that cannot be taken from you. Your legacy towards humanity is what matters. I see us trying to pass off pretty packaging as Diva and Icon status, and I just shake my head.
Another legend passes on Christmas
Eartha Kitt was and continues to be a legend… and it was so funny to find out that she starred in The Emperor’s New Groove