Eartha Kitt — once called the “most exciting woman in the world” by Orson Welles — died on Christmas day in Connecticut after a long battle with colon cancer. She was 81 years old.

Born Eartha Mae Keith in North, South Carolina, Kitt was an actress and singer most notable for her sultry, housecat-purr of a voice and indomitable, lioness-tough spirit. Her career spanned six decades and included two Emmy awards in addition to multiple nominations for Tony and Grammy awards.

Eartha Kitt

Her rough upbringing is the stuff of legend: A mixed-race child — her mother was a black and Cherokee woman who had been raped by the white owner of a plantation — in the South in pre-World-War-II America, Kitt was sent to live with her aunt in Harlem at age 8.
At 15, she quit school, and for a time shortly thereafter lived in subways.

But Kitt caught a break in the ‘40s, when she landed a spot in the famed Katherine Dunham Dance Troupe; she’d later hit it big in the Broadway revue New Faces of 1952, where she sang “Monotonous,” one of Kitt’s trademark torch songs. She also acted in television and movies, perhaps most notably — or, at least, most memorably — as Catwoman in the 1960s Batman TV series.

Her biggest pop hit, ironically, was a Christmas anthem: “Santa Baby” — in which a gold-digging siren lays down the law to her sugar daddy — wherein she asserted her self-made sex-kitten persona.

But make no mistake, this sex kitten also had claws. Staunchly outspoken, Kitt made her feelings about Vietnam known as she attended a White House lunch hosted by first lady Lady Bird Johnson 1968, when her fame was near its peak.

“You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed,” she told a group of about 50 women. “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.”

Reportedly, Johnson broke down into tears after Kitt’s tirade; Kitt performed almost exclusively overseas for the next 10 years.

Kitt regularly performed — mostly in her true home, the cabaret — well into her 70s. And, as has been noted, she maintained her youthful charm and sex-kitten spirit — not to mention a figure women half her age would kill for — through her final days.

If you haven’t noticed, today is New Year’s Eve. And while there are plenty of parties and shows to attend, The Playlist feels compelled to add to your embarrassment of New Year’s Eve riches with two more turn-of-the-year happenings. The first: Budding CCM superstars Fee rock the The Bubble at Northside Baptist Church at 8 p.m. The eponymous brainchild of Alpharetta, Ga., pastor Steve Fee, Fee struck CCM gold earlier in the year with the song “All Because of Jesus,” which reached No. 2 and No. 14 on Billboard’s Hot Christian AC and Hot Christian Songs charts, respectively. Fee even has the support of several CCM superstars, receiving high praise from Casting Crowns’ Mark Hall and MercyMe’s Bart Millard. The concert kicks off with a pre-party (replete with fireworks) at 7 p.m., and admission is $20. Call 413-7044 or visit fosterentertainment.com for more information. Should you prefer cover bands to Christian rock, the Flying Saucer hosts local cover ensemble extraordinaire 88 Rewind at its New Year’s soiree; admission is $10. Call 933-9997 for more information or to reserve a table — which, given the Saucer’s wild popularity, would be a good idea.  

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