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.
Avril au Portugal
Eartha Kitt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In Portugal with you
When we discovered romance
Like we never knew
My head was in the clouds
My heart went crazy too
And madly I said
This sad reality
To know it couldn't be
That's Portugal and love
In April
The music and the wine
Convinced me you were mine
But it was just the spring
Fooling me
I found my April dream
In Portugal with you
When we discovered romance
Like we never knew
Then morning brought the rain
And now my dream is through
But still my heart says
"I love you"
I found my April dream
In Portugal with you
When we discovered romance
Like we never knew
Then morning brought the rain
And now my dream is through
But still my heart says
"I love you"
Eartha Kitt's song Avril au Portugal tells a story of a beautiful romance that took place in Portugal in the month of April between two people who had just discovered love. The singer tells us that she found her April dream in Portugal with a mysterious person who she fell in love with. She describes how her head was in the clouds, and her heart went crazy while she was in love. The music and wine convinced her that he was hers, and she believed she had found love like never before.
However, the dream was short-lived as morning came with the rain, and she realized that the romance was over, and she had to go back to reality. The song ends with the sad realization that it was just a dream, but her heart remains in love. The lyrics capture the fleeting nature of a holiday romance and the heartbreak it can bring when it has to come to an end.
The song's reference to Portugal dates back to the 1950s when it was known as a popular destination for love-struck couples. While the lyrics are in French, the song features a few Portuguese phrases such as "Ai, mourir pour toi" (Oh, to die for you), adding to the song's romantic charm. The song became one of Eartha Kitt's signature songs, and even today, it remains a timeless classic that inspires many love stories.
Line by Line Meaning
I found my April dream
I discovered a dreamlike reality that I had been seeking for a long time.
In Portugal with you
Being in Portugal with you made this discovery even more significant and memorable.
When we discovered romance
Together, we found this wonderful spark that ignited romance between us.
Like we never knew
It was an experience that was fresh and new, unlike anything we had known before.
My head was in the clouds
I felt euphoric and overjoyed beyond belief.
My heart went crazy too
My heart felt overpowered with feelings and emotions that I couldn't even begin to explain.
And madly I said
I proclaimed my love with fierce passion and intensity.
"I love you"
I expressed my profound feelings of love and affection to you.
This sad reality
I now have to come to terms with the reality that our love cannot be.
To know it couldn't be
It is upsetting to realize that our love cannot come to fruition.
That's Portugal and love
This is the sad truth of the common fate of love in Portugal.
In April
This was a realization that occurred during the month of April.
The music and the wine
We were swept up in the romance of the moment, aided by the consumption of wine and the sounds of music filling the air.
Convinced me you were mine
In that moment, it felt like you belonged to me and me alone.
But it was just the spring
The magic we experienced was simply a result of the alluring qualities of springtime.
Fooling me
I was tricked by the temporary enchantment of spring.
Then morning brought the rain
Unfortunately, reality crashed down on us the next day with the arrival of rain and the end of the enchanting night before.
And now my dream is through
I have been forced to accept that the dream is not meant to be and is over forever.
But still my heart says
However, my heart cannot dispel the deep feelings of love I still have for you.
"I love you"
My love for you persists, in spite of the end of our April love affair.
Contributed by Keira I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@Rudipolt
very fine song Aloha from Hawaii
@muana13
EXCELLENT ~~~~Have a peaceful time ...ABRAÇOS de PORTUGAL
@elinorcastro793
BEAUTIFUL
@Lucie19801590
Magnifique chanson AVRIL AU PORTUGAL .Pays de mes origines .. Merci du partage ..Bises ..Lucie
@victornazaire3421
Une grande dame de la chanson ! Chanson de ma jeune adolescence !
@tombarac8253
Si je peux vous demander quel âge avez vous?
@mmkalymnos
ΤΕΛΕΙΟ ΚΟΜΜΑΤΙ ΓΕΜΑΤΟ ΑΡΜΟΝΙΑ
@elizalove47
Eartha Kitt!! sublime!✽♡😊💦🌹 ヅ♪♫ •🇨🇷️
@dchern
of the most underrated singers of the 50s,and of course it has nothing to do with her skin clour.
@leelarson107
You're over-playing that point.