Born in tiny North, South Carolina to Mamie Kitt, who was of Cherokee and African-American descent, and an American father (surname Kitt) of German and Dutch descent, she was raised by her maternal aunt Anna Mae Riley, whom she believed was her mother up until after Riley's death, when she was sent to live in New York City with her real mother.
Kitt began her career as a member of the Katherine Dunham Company and made her film debut with them in Casbah (1948). A talented singer with a distinctive voice, her hits include Let's Do It, C'est Si Bon (It's So Good), Just an Old Fashioned Girl, Monotonous, Love for Sale, I'd Rather Be Burned as a Witch, Uska Dara, Mink, Schmink, Under the Bridges of Paris, and arguably her most recognizable hit, the sexily sung Christmas song Santa Baby. She sang quite a few songs in French, a language she picked up during her years performing in Europe, but she never lost her American accent, which made her French songs sound rather amusing to native French speakers. She dabbled in other languages as well, which she demonstrated in many of the live recordings of her cabaret performances.
In 1950, Orson Welles gave her her first starring role, as Helen of Troy in his staging of Dr. Faustus. A few years later, she was cast in the revue New Faces of 1952, introducing "Monotonous", "C'est Si Bon" and "Santa Baby", three songs with which she continues to be identified. During her run, 20th Century Fox filmed a version of the play. Welles and Kitt allegedly had a torrid affair during her run in Shinbone Alley, which earned her the nickname by Welles as "the most exciting woman in the world". In 1958, Kitt made her feature film debut opposite Sidney Poitier in The Mark of the Hawk. Throughout the rest of the 1950s and early 1960s, Kitt would work on and off in film, television and on nightclub stages. In the late 1960s television series Batman, she played Catwoman after Julie Newmar left the role. This was the role for which she would best be remembered, owing to her purring feline drawl.
In 1968, however, Kitt encountered a substantial professional setback after she made anti-war statements during a White House luncheon that reportedly made First Lady Lady Bird Johnson weep uncontrollably. Professionally exiled from the U.S., she devoted her energies to overseas performances before returning to New York in a triumphant turn in the Broadway spectacle Timbuktu! (a version of the perennial Kismet set in Africa) in 1978. In the musical, one song gives a 'recipe' for mahoun, a preparation of cannabis, in which her sultry purring rendition of the refrain "constantly stirring with a long wooden spoon" was distinctive.
In 1984, she returned to hit music with a dance song, Where Is My Man; the first certified Gold record of her career. Kitt found new audiences in nightclubs across the country, including a whole new generation of gay male fans, and she responded by frequently giving benefit performances in support of HIV/AIDS organizations.
In 2000, Kitt again returned to Broadway in the short but notable run of the revival of the 1920s-themed, The Wild Party, opposite Mandy Patinkin and Toni Collette. In 2003, she replaced Chita Rivera in Nine. In recent years she had also appeared as the Wicked Witch in the North American national touring company of The Wizard of Oz.
One of her more unusual roles was as Kaa the python in a 1994 BBC Radio adaptation of The Jungle Book. Kitt lent her distinctive voice to the role of Yzma in Disney's The Emperor's New Groove and also did other voiceover work such as the voice of Queen Vexus on the animated TV series My Life as a Teenage Robot. She continued her role as Yzma on the spin-off TV series of The Emperor's New Groove, The Emperor's New School.
In recent years, Kitt's annual appearances in New York made her a fixture of the Manhattan cabaret scene. She took the stage at venues such as the Ballroom and, more recently, the Café Carlyle to explore and define her highly stylized image, alternating between signature songs (such as "Old Fashioned Millionaire"), which emphasized a witty, mercenary world-weariness, and less familiar repertoire, much of which she performed with an unexpected ferocity and bite that presented her as a survivor with a seemingly bottomless reservoir of resilience - her version of Here's to Life, frequently used as a closing number, was a sterling example of the latter. This side of her later performances is reflected in at least one of her recordings, Thinking Jazz, which preserves a series of performances with a small jazz combo that took place in the early 1990s in Germany, and which includes both standards (Smoke Gets in Your Eyes) and numbers (such as Something May Go Wrong) that seem more specifically tailored to her talents; one version of the CD includes as bonus performances a fierce, angry Yesterdays and a live take of "C'est Si Bon" that good-humoredly satirizes her sex-kitten persona.
Personal life
Kitt was married to John William McDonald, an associate of a real-estate investment company, from 1960 to 1965. They had one child, a daughter, Kitt (b. 1962, married Charles Lawrence Shapiro); and two grandchildren, Jason and Rachel Shapiro.
Eartha Kitt died of colon cancer on Christmas Day, December 25, 2008.
Angelitos Negros
Eartha Kitt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Con el pincel extranjero
Pintor que sigues el rumbo
De tantos pintores viejos
Aunque la virgen sea blanca
Píntale angelitos negros
Que también se van al cielo
Pintor si pintas con amor
Por qué desprecias su color?
Si sabes que en el cielo
También los quiere Dios
Pintor de santos alcoba
Si tienes alma en el cuerpo
Por qué al pintar en tus cuadros
Te olvidaste de los negros
Siempre que pintas iglesias
Pintas angelitos bellos
Pero nunca te acordaste
De pintar un ángel negro
The lyrics of Eartha Kitt's song, Angelitos Negros, bring attention to the exclusion of black individuals from the world of art and religion. The song calls out to the painter, who is born in the same land as the singer, but uses a foreign brush to paint in the style of old painters. The singer asks the painter to paint black angels alongside the white virgin as black individuals who are good also go to heaven. The singer questions why the color of one's skin would matter in the eyes of God and challenges the painter to include black individuals in his paintings.
The lyrics of this song highlight the discrimination and racism faced by black individuals in the realm of art, religious representation and society as a whole. The song acknowledges and elevates the value of people of color and showcases their presence in every aspect of society. The song calls for inclusivity and for the recognition of the excellence of people of color. It urges for the breaking down of color barriers and the promotion of unity in all aspects of life.
Line by Line Meaning
Pintor nacido en mi tierra
Painter born in my land
Con el pincel extranjero
With the foreign brush
Pintor que sigues el rumbo
Painter who follows the path
De tantos pintores viejos
Of so many old painters
Aunque la virgen sea blanca
Although the Virgin Mary is white
Píntale angelitos negros
Paint black little angels for her
Que también se van al cielo
Because they also go to Heaven
Todos los negritos buenos
All the good little black children
Pintor si pintas con amor
Painter, if you paint with love
Por qué desprecias su color?
Why do you despise their color?
Si sabes que en el cielo
If you know that in Heaven
También los quiere Dios
God also loves them
Pintor de santos alcoba
Painter of holy bedrooms
Si tienes alma en el cuerpo
If you have a soul in your body
Por qué al pintar en tus cuadros
Why when you paint in your canvases
Te olvidaste de los negros
Did you forget about the black people
Siempre que pintas iglesias
Whenever you paint churches
Pintas angelitos bellos
You paint beautiful little angels
Pero nunca te acordaste
But you never remembered
De pintar un ángel negro
To paint a black angel
Contributed by Sadie O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
ThePeerReview
For Winnie Mandela RIP
"Angelitos Negros"
Pintor nacido en mi tierra
Con el pincel extranjero
Pintor que sigues el rumbo
De tantos pintores viejos
Aunque la virgen sea blanca
Píntale angelitos negros
Que también se van al cielo
Todos los negritos buenos
Pintor si pintas con amar
Por qué desprecias su color?
Si sabes que en el cielo
También los quiere Dios
Pintor de santos alcoba
Si tienes alma en el cuerpo
Por qué al pintar en tus cuadros
Te olvidaste de los negros
Siempre que pintas iglesias
Pintas angelitos bellos
Pero nunca te acordaste
De pintar un ángel negro
Big Island Pole Dance Studio
English lyrics:
Painter born in my land
With the foreign brush
Painter you follow the course
Of so many old painters
Although the virgin is white
Paint him little black angels
They also go to heaven
All the good little blacks
Painter if you paint with love
Why do you despise its color?
If you know that in heaven
God wants them too
Painter of saints alcove
If you have a soul in the body
Why when painting in your paintings
You forgot about blacks
Whenever you paint churches
Pints beautiful little angels
But you never remembered ... Of painting a black angel
Blas Castro
This lady right here . What an Icon in soooo many levels.
decoymiata
In many levels I agree amazing woman
The New
And only seven of us get it lol
Angel E. Alvarez
A beautiful version of a great bolero based on a poem of one of the best Venezuelan poets and political activists: Andrés Eloy Blanco.
Paul H
Thank you for sharing this information. His poem is marvelous to say the list. We are soooooo lucky today we have all at our fingertips Thank you again!
Ana Arruda
Muito obrigada por sua informação; não conhecia a história dessa música maravilhosa! Meu pai tinha o disco dela em 78rpm e eu jamais esqueci dessa música. Ainda hoje me encanta.
Saudações do Brasil! 🇧🇷
ThePeerReview
For Winnie Mandela RIP
"Angelitos Negros"
Pintor nacido en mi tierra
Con el pincel extranjero
Pintor que sigues el rumbo
De tantos pintores viejos
Aunque la virgen sea blanca
Píntale angelitos negros
Que también se van al cielo
Todos los negritos buenos
Pintor si pintas con amar
Por qué desprecias su color?
Si sabes que en el cielo
También los quiere Dios
Pintor de santos alcoba
Si tienes alma en el cuerpo
Por qué al pintar en tus cuadros
Te olvidaste de los negros
Siempre que pintas iglesias
Pintas angelitos bellos
Pero nunca te acordaste
De pintar un ángel negro
Angel Rivera
Wow, her pronunciation in Spanish is simply PERFECT, you would think she was Spanish, I am flabbergasted
Piedad Palencia
In South America as well as Europe she ruled!
EòghannP
Estoy de acuerdo contigo: Eartha’s pronunciation in Spanish is Latin American rather than European (naturally enough), but it is very clear and carries the emotions of the song beautifully. A treasure to have discovered this song which, until very recently, was totally unknown to me. Me encanta. Gracias, Eartha, por dondequiera que estés.