Thursday, December 25, 2008

Eartha Kitt, 1927-2008



One of the true icons of pop culture, Eartha Kitt, has died of colon cancer at the age of 81. It's ironic that Eartha passed away on Christmas Day, given that one of her most famous songs is the yuletide tune "Santa Baby".

Because she had such a long and distinguished career, Eartha is one of those performers who is closely identified with multiple roles from a variety of eras. Perhaps her most famous portrayal is that of Catwoman on the 1960s camp classic series Batman. In the 1992 romantic comedy Boomerang, Eartha was a standout in her supporting role of Lady Eloise. In 2000, she was introduced to a new generation after providing the voice of Yzma in the Disney cartoon feature The Emperor's New Groove. She reprised the characterization in the 2005 straight-to-DVD sequel Kronk's New Groove and in the Disney Channel animated series The Emperor's New School. Eartha is survived by her daughter Kitt Shapiro and two grandchildren.

Below is a 1962 clip of Eartha performing the song "I Want To Be Evil".


8 comments:

mister anchovy said...

Sad news. The video you posted is wonderful.

The Mistress of the Dark said...

Very sad news :( I loved Eartha

Anonymous said...

Malcolm - it was ironic, I agree. I almost posted this same video on my OSF but just had to post Santa Baby - it's one of my favorite Christmas songs.

I also posted a video of her playing Catwoman on the 1960s Batman series - I'm remembering your poll for best Catwoman some time back, lol.

Happy New Year, Malcolm! I'm looking forward to doing another radio interview with you in the New Year!

clnmike said...

May she RIP, she was iconic.

Unknown said...

Unique and Fabulous! She will be missed!

pjazzypar said...

I have seen more tributes to Ms. Kitt in the blogsphere than I have seen on other recently deceased artists in a long time. That speaks volumes about her legacy.

Fortune Cookies said...

She was certainly an icon. I was terribly sad to read of her passing. her legend will live on through her work

Malcolm said...

Mister A: Thanks

Mistress of the D: I didn't even know she was ill.

Pop Art Diva: Happy New Year to you as well. I am looking forward to guesting on your show again.

Clnmike and Regina: She will be indeed.

Pjazzy: I noticed quite a few too. I think it would have been more if her death didn't occur during the holiday season.

Fortune Cookies: That is one of the beauties of art, music, film, etc... even though the artist may be dead, they live on through their work.

 
Remarketing tags may not be associated with personally identifiable information or placed on pages related to sensitive categories. See more information and instructions on how to setup the tag on: http://google.com/ads/remarketingsetup --------------------------------------------------->