Eartha!

I was at home washing dishes this Sunday afternoon when the movie, "St. Louis Blues" came to my mind and while thinking, Eartha Kitt stumbled upon my brain. For some reason or another, I could not remember if she was living or dead. Then, I rememberd that I had read that she had died sometime back in December. I thought of all the awards shows that had been televised recently, but none of them had paid tribute to the legendary icon. And I don't use the term, "legendary icon" loosely. For those of you that may not know, Eartha Kitt played catwoman on the Batman series in the 1960's. While Julie Newmar and Lee Meriwether played catwoman prior to Eartha, in the opinion of many, she owned the role and certainly brought it to a wider television audience. Eartha's offscreen persona was as outspoken as on the silver screen. Born on a cotton plantation of mixed heritage, Eartha had seen her fare share of ups and downs both personally and professionally. She suffered a severe career setback when we was invited to the White House under Lyndon B. Johnson's administration and made the following statement in regards to the Vietnam war, "You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed. No wonder the kids rebel and take pot." That statement caused Mrs. Johnson to burst into tears. While younder audiences may best know Eartha as, Lady Elouise from the movie, "Boomerang", she had been dazzeling audiences since the 1940's and has been immortalized with the song, "Santa Baby". A long list of career accomplishments precede her in film, music, broadway and activism.

So maybe at the Academy Awards will this legend get her just due. or one day I'll have to sit down and give her a good going out post. becasue she had no funeral. This was at her request. To learn more about this fascinating woman, who passed away last December at the age of 81, visit her official website. http://www.earthakitt.com/