That's MISS KITT- to you....With an enduring career that has spanned theater, cabaret, television, film and the recording industry, Eartha Kitt has become nothing less than a household name. An international star who has given new meaning to the word "versatility," she is one of only a handful of performers to be nominated twice for both a Tony Award
and a Grammy Award as well as for an Emmy. Born on a cotton plantation in South Carolina, Eartha Kitt was given away by her mother and sent to live with an aunt in Harlem at the age of eight. It was in New York that her distinct individuality and flair for show business manifested itself, when at the urging of a
friend she auditioned for the famed Katherine Dunham Dance Troupe.
She was awarded a position as a featured dancer and vocalist, and before she turned twenty, she had toured with them worldwide. While performing with the Dunham Troupe in Paris, Ms. Kitt was spotted by a nightclub owner who signed
her on as a cabaret singer. She gained fame and admirers quickly, including Orson Welles, who called her "the most exciting woman in the world" and signed her to play Helen of Troy in his acclaimed production of "Dr. Faust."
Upon her return to the United States, Ms. Kitt played a twenty-week run at the Blue
Angel. There she was seen by Leonard Stillman, who included her in "New Faces of 1952." Her legendary performance in "Monotonous," in which she appeared for a year on Broadway, would lead to a national tour and Twentieth Century Fox film by the same name. Broadway stardom led to a recording contract and a succession of
best-selling records including "Love For Sale" and "Folk Tales of the Tribes of Africa,"
for which she received a Grammy nomination. She also published her first autobiography,
Thursday's Child," during this period, and returned again to the cabaret scene with runs at The Persian Room, The Empire Room, and London's Talk of the Town, among others. Ms. Kitt then made her return to Broadway in the dramatic play "Mrs. Patterson," for which she received
a Tony nomination. Other stage appearances followed, as did film work that included "The Mark of the Hawk" with Sidney Poitier and "Anna Lucasta" with Sammy Davis, Jr. During this period she also became involved in the "Batman" television series in her infamous Catwoman role while continually finding time to make concert appearances. Singing in ten different languages, Ms. Kitt has sung in one hundred countries and was honored with a star on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame in 1960. In recent years Eartha Kitt has been just as active as ever and has no plans to slow down.
In 1994 her performance at the Caf
é Carlyle in New York had star-studded audiences and her album "Back in Business" was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1996. She has also made frequent guest appearances on television programs such as "The Nanny" and "New York Undercover," while her world famous voice can be heard on commercials and
in New York City taxis advising riders to buckle up.

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