Eartha Kitt: 80 and Fabulous

Today is Eartha Kitt's 80th birthday and she's still going strong! 

I had the pleasure of interviewing Ms. Kitt in January 2001 when she returned to Broadway for a brief stint as The Fairy Godmother in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella.  She was also promoting her fourth book, Rejuvenate! It's Never Too Late.

The article never ran (@#*!) and the magazine went out of business soon thereafter(@#&*!!)  However, I think that some of the quotes she gave me in our telephone interview are still pretty interesting today:

NG: You usually play vampy, diva roles like the Wicked Witch of the West.  Why the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella?

EK: Because I love the story and I love the ideas and I love telling children to have dignity and respect.  I played the Wicked Witch of the West and that was fun, but so is this.  Any part can be fun if you do it right.

NG:  Your image has taken a beating with some blacks over the years.  Do you feel that blacks misunderstand you sometimes?  In what way?

EK: Very much so, particularly in the beginning.  They would say things like "She thinks she's white."   It doesn't happen anymore, but back then, when I walked through Harlem, they used to say "Why don't you go back downtown?"  This is after they would read about me in the papers with a white man.  But, the funny thing is, I went out wth Sammy Davis too, but no one said anything about that!

NG: Really! You went out with Sammy Davis?  During Anna Lucasta?

EK: Oh long before Anna Lucasta.  Before he lost his eye.  I met him when I was in New Faces of 1952 in San Francisco.  He was performing at the Grecian Room at the Fairmont Hotel.

NG: Is a movie about your life still being planned?

EK:   Yes.  Toni Braxton is going to play me.

NG: How do you think she'll do?

EK:  We don't know until we see, right?  She came to my show at the Carlyle and she was almost in tears.  She said, "I don't know if I can do that.  There are so many different facets of you."

NG: Are there any other performers out today that you like?

EK: I think that Toni is really good.  I hope she's damn good (at playing me), but once you've seen one of these people, you've seen them all. 

Needless to say, we had a great conversation that day!

Now, I am not suggesting that Ms. Kitt uses the following products.  But I am suggesting that they are fabulous enough for her!

Dior Prestige Exquisite Cleansing Creme $55.00.   Dior Prestige 20+1 Creme $250.00.  Dior Addict Lipstick in Rouge Abyss $23.40.  Dior Pure Poison Fragrance $79.00.

Comments

[B.]

She's fabulous! I met her when I was about 11. She was doing a tour of "Timbuktoo" and graciously allowed us to spend time with her in her dressing room. Still doing her thing!

[Nichelle]

She is definitely fabulous! I am so glad that I had a chance to meet and talk with her.

[afrobella]

Good God, Nichelle - I would freak out at such an interview! Beautifully done, and happy birthday to Eartha! There can never be another.