Singer and actress Eartha Kitt was born on this day in 1927. The woman that Orson Welles called “the most exciting woman in the world” might be best known to people of my generation as the woman who replaced Julie Newmar as Catwoman on the TV series Batman, but she was particularly well-received in Paris as an actress and singer. “C’est Si Bon” reached #8 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1952.
The Sound of One Hand Typing 
She appeared on Broadway in a show called Timbuktu, which was a reworking if a show called Kismet. I was privileged to see that show. She was amazing.
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Also, my father actually met her. My father was a teacher, and during the summer he’d work in a day camp here on Long Island. Part of his job was driving campers to the camp, and driving them home again. When Eartha Kitt was appearing in a show at the Westbury Music Fair for two weeks one summer, my father was asked to drive her daughter to camp. So of course he got to meet the camper’s mother.
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I love it!
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Did she sing “Baubles, Bangles, and Beads”? I saw her do that on The Tonight Show one night. Orson Welles was right!
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Actually her character didn’t sing that song in the show. That song belongs to the ingénue. But she had a song that wasn’t in Kismet, a song called Rahadlakum where she was brewing some sort of potion … OMG the way she sang that was amazing. Here is a YouTube to her tv appearance singing it … https://youtu.be/On2RoGXNO5Q
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Oops, it was in kismet … but wow …
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Wow…
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As a twelve-year-old, I had this record and loved it. Ertha was solely responsible for my taking French in High School.
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Well, that’s a good reason. What did your mother have to say about that? I’m only asking because I know what my mother’s reaction would be…
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My mother took French as well so there was no need to explain.
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She had a wonderfully unique voice.
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She did. She was a unique woman.
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I love Eartha Kitt who could easily have been in the Black Panther movies. She has a secual sensuality to her and her singing. Love this tune and, to me, she does the best version of ” Santa Baby”.
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Her “Santa Baby” is the only one that matters…
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welles was right, nd I must add, she was wonderful to work with.
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I can imagine she would be good to work with. She never appeared to let stardom go to her head.
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