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December 31. 2008
Legendary Performer Eartha Kitt Remembered
Sultry singer was symbol of elegance
Eartha Hitt hugs Nat King Cole, playing the piano in the role
ofW .C. Handy, in a scene from the 1958 movie 'St. Louis
Blues.
(AP) - Eartha Kitt, a sultry singer, dancer and actress who rose
from SouthCarolina cotton fields to become an international symbol
of elegance and sensuality, died Dec. 25 from colon cancer at the age
of 81.
A self-proclaimed "sex kitten" famous for her ,-----------~~----
catl i ke purr, K i tt was one of America’s most versati le
performers, winning two Emmys and nabbing a third
nomination. She also was nominated for several
Tonys and two Grammys.
Her career spanned six decades, from her start as
a dancer with the tamed Katherine Dunham troupe
to cabarets and acting and singing on stage, in
movies and on television. She persevered through
an unhappy childhood as a mixed-race daughter of
the South and made headlines in the 1960s for
denouncing the Vietnam War during a visit to the
White House.
Through the years, Kitt remained a picture of
vitality and attracted fans less than half her age even
as she neared 80.
When her book "Rejuvenate," a guide to staying
physically fit, was published in 2001, Kitt was fea­ Eartha Kitt
tured on the cover in a long, curve-hugging black
dress with a figure that some 20-year-old women would envy. Kitt
also wrote three autobiographies.
Once dubbed the "most exciting woman in the world" by Orson
Welles, she spent much of her life single, though brief romances with
the rich and famous peppered her younger years.
After becoming a hit singing "Monotonous" in the Broadway
revue "New Faces of 1952," Kitt appeared in "Mrs. Patterson" in
Entertainers to be missed Other African-American entertainers who died in 2008:
Bernie Mac
Actor and Comedian
Odetta
Singer and Civil Rights Activist
Bo Diddiey
Musician
Isaac Hayes
Musician
Jazz Great Dead at 70
(A P)-Freddie Hubbard, the Grammy­
winning jazz musician whose style in­
fluenced a generation o f trum pet play­
ers and who collaborated with such
g reats as O rnette C o lem an , John
Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, died M on­
day, a month after suffering a heart
attack. He was 70.
A towering figure in jazz circles,
Hubbard played on hundreds of record­
ings in acareer dating to 1958, the year he
arrived in New York from his hometown
Indianapolis, where he had studied at the
Arthur Jordan Conservatory of Music
and with the Indianapolis Symphony.
Freddie Hubbard
Hack by Popular Demand
TV Diversity Falls Short
fact that the few African Americans
in higher positions in that industry
The entertainm ent
lack power to green light new
industry, particularly
series' or make final creative
television, continues to
decisions, which has trans­
fall seriously short in
lated into a critical lack of
achieving diversity, ac­
primetime programming by,
co rd in g to a new
for or about people of color,”
NAACP report “Ou, of
said NAACP Hollywood Bu­
Focus, Out of Snyc -
reau E xecutive D irecto r
Take 4.”
VicangeloBulluck.
Without quick action Benjamin Todd Jealous
Specifically, the report re­
to reverse the bleak sta­
veals that hiring, promotion
tistics, the industry could face politi­ and acting opportunities for minori­
cal action, NAACP officials said.
ties are directly tied to highly subjec­
“At a time when the country is tive practices, a closed roster system
excited about the election of the first and potentially discriminatory mem­
African American president in U.S.
bership guild requirements.
history, it is unthinkable that minori­
The serious shortage of minority
ties would be so grossly under-repre­ laces on primetime television can also
sented on broadcast television," said be traced to the virtual disappearance
NAACP President and CEO Benjamin of black programming since the merger
Todd Jealous.
of UPN and WB networks into The
“Perpetrating the situation is the CW network, according to the report.
1954-55. (Some references say she earned a Tony nomination for
"Mrs. Patterson," but only winners were publicly announced at that
time., She also made appearances in "Shinbone Alley " and "The Owl
and the Pussycat."
Her first album, "RCA Victor Presents Eartha Kitt," came out in
1954, featuring such songsas "1 Want to Be Evil," "C'est Si Bon" and
the saucy gold digger's theme song "Santa Baby,"
which is revived on radio each Christmas.
The next year, the record company released
follow-up album "That Bad Eartha, " which featured
"Let's Do It," "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and "My
Heart Belongs to Daddy."
In 1996, she was nominated fo ra Gram m y in
the category of traditional pop vocal perfor­
mance for her album "Back in Business." She
also had been nominated in the children's re­
cording category for the 1969 record "Folk Tales
of the Tribes o f Africa."
Kitt also acted in movies, playing the lead female
role opposite Nat King Cole in "St. Louis Blues" in
1958 and more recently appearing in "Boomerang"
and "Harriet the Spy" in the 1990s.
On television, she was the sexy Catwoman on the
popular "Batman" series in 1967-68, replacing Julie
Newmar who originated the role. A guest appear­
ance on an episode of "I Spy" brought Kitt an Emmy nomination in
1966.
In 2000, Kitt earned anotherTony nod for "The Wild Party." She
played the fairy godm other in Rodgers and H ammerstein's
"Cinderella" in 2002.
As recently as October 2003, she was on Broadway after replacing
Chita Rivera in a revival of "Nine."
The box set of
auction catalogs
featuring memorabilia
from the collection of
entertainer Michael
Jackson.
Report urges action
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King of Pop Sells his Stuff
The gates of Michael Jackson's famed Neverland
Ranch and one of the white gloves first unveiled in his
1983 "Billie Jean" video are going up for auction in a
2,(XX)-item sale organized by the self-styled King of
Pop.
Auctioneer Darren Julien said that Jackson was
sorting through thousands of personal items and his
vast art collection from the abandoned Neverland
Ranch and other places.
He said the five-day auction in Beverly Hills, sched­
uled for April 21-25, will be the first organized by
Jackson, who has been living as a virtual recluse since
his acquittal in 2005 on child sex abuse charges.
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