By TaRessa Stovall:

While she was known and celebrated worldwide for her sultry purr of a voice, singer/actor Eartha Kitt was one to hiss and growl at injustice. At the height of her career, she caused a scandal in the White House, and in her later years, supported gay rights and same-sex marriage. The internationally-acclaimed star of stage and screen, who remained a sex symbol well into her 70s, passed away on Christmas Day at age 81 from cancer. She leaves a legacy of ageless beauty, captivating talent, fierce intelligence and a courageous heart.

Perhaps the best-known example of Kitt’s activism was a 1968 conversation with Lady Bird Johnson at a White House luncheon. When the First Lady asked Kitt what she thought of the Vietnam War, Kitt reportedly responded, “You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed. They rebel in the street. They don’t want to go to school because they’re going to be snatched off from their mothers to be shot in Vietnam. No wonder the kids rebel and take pot.”

This unexpectedly candid comment is said to have driven the First Lady to tears, and angered President Lyndon Johnson. As a result, Kitt was blacklisted, investigated by the FBI and the CIA, and put on the “Enemies List” compiled by President Richard Nixon when he succeeded Johnson. This drove her to perform in Europe until a triumphant 1978 return to New York with a concert in Carnegie Hall and a role in the Broadway musical “Timbuktu!”

Earl Ofari Hutchinson of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable shared his memory of interviewing Kitt for the Free Press 30 years ago in a December 26 conversation on KPCC Southern California Public Radio. “She was really a multi-faceted person. She spoke many languages. She was quite a philanthropist, a quiet activist for social causes. When King wanted something, the March on Washington and other demonstrations, she was always there. So, her legacy is a full-bodied legacy that I just feel that we just really have to pay tribute to the legends and the giants that did so much for the cause of peace and social justice.”

Born Eartha Mae Keith on a cotton plantation in North, South Carolina to a mother of African-American and Cherokee descent and a white father described in newspaper obituaries as a “poor cotton farmer,” she entered show business as a member of the legendary Katherine Dunham Company and acted in her first film, “Casbah,” with the Company in 1948. She went on to star as Helen of Troy in Orson Welles’ staging of “Dr. Faustas,” and made her feature film debut opposite Sidney Poitier in “The Mark of the Hawk.” In the 1960s, Kitt reached new audiences as Catwoman in the “Batman” television series.

Her unique voice led to several music hits including “Let’s Do It,” “Champagne Taste,” “C’est si bon,” “Love for Sale,” and her signature tune, “Santa Baby,” released in 1953. Her first gold record was the disco song, “Where Is My Man,” in 1984. She appeared in the 1992 hit film “Boomerang,” starring Eddie Murphy, and did several stints on Broadway from the 1990s to 2004. She also lent her trademark voice to such films as Disney’s “The Emperor’s New Groove,” as well as the sequel and the spin-off television series, “The Emperor’s New School,” for which she won two Emmy Awards and other honors.

Recently, Kitt lit up the Manhattan cabaret scene, performing at such well-known venues as the Ballroom and the Café Carlyle. In 2006, she co-starred in the Off-Broadway musical, “Mimi le Duck,” and in the 2007 independent film, “And Then Came Love.” As recently as 2007, she was the spokesperson for MAC Cosmetics’ Smoke Signals collection.

The resilient superstar’s dynamic life was chronicled in a trio of autobiographies: “Thursday’s Child” (1956); “Alone with Me” (1976); and “I’m Still Here: Confessions of a Sex Kitten” (1989).”

In her later years, Kitt lived in Connecticut near her daughter, Kitt Shapiro, and her grandchildren. She became an advocate of gay rights and publicly supported same-sex marriage, calling it “a civil right.”

Her presence, talent and outspoken courage will not soon be forgotten.

Read more about Eartha Kitt’s activism at

For the official biography from her Web site, click on http://www.earthakitt.com/ekpage-bio.html

TaRessa Stovall is Managing Editor of TheDefendersOnline and Web Content Manager for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund www.naacpldf.org