Eartha Kitt.
1927-2008






I was remiss in not doing a little entry on Ms. Kitt before now. She passed away over the holidays.

I'd always admired Eartha Kitt. She was such a totally original and odd woman, with an offbeat - no, make that downright weird -  voice and look.  I guess growing up in the 1970s as a short, brown-eyed brunette, when the standard of beauty was everyone was thin lipped and blonde and tall, I always felt it was huge triumph for Kitt to be a sex symbol during the 1960s, when there was even less "wiggle room" for the definition of beauty or femininity. 

She was odd looking, short, and pretty much everything about her went against the grain of what was popular in show business, but I think that's a great testament to her individuality. Basically, she outshone the cookie cutter, not the other way around.

She had passionate romances and flings with men on her own terms in era of marriage and white picket fences. She was a single mother. She went to Africa during the height of late 1970s, early 1980s apartheid and funded schools there for children who would otherwise have received no formal education. (Suck on THAT, Oprah.)  She raised money by selling autographed pictures of herself.

I don't really know that much about her. Indeed, I didn't realize until I read her obituary that Eartha - Eartha Mae, to be exact - was her real name. It seemed too perfect not to be made up.

She probably wasn't perfect. Anyone who gets into show business has to have a wee bit of a personality disorder.  And,  I don't know enough about her to say for sure she was a wonderful, great person. But, she was an indiviualist, and I love that. And, I think it should be recognized and celebrated.