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.
Sho-Jo-Ji
Eartha Kitt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sho-jo-ji is a raccoon.
He is always hungry
So he sings of koi koi koi.
He will rub his head and tummy,
Rub head and rum tum tum.
Jelly beans, and pink abalone,
Koi, koi, koi, koi, koi, koi
All he says is koi koi koi
Sho sho sho-jo-ji,
Sho-jo-ji is a raccoon.
He is always hungry
So he sings of koi koi koi.
Always a-hungry very hungry
That's why he sings of koi
Sho sho sho-jo-ji,
Sho-jo-ji is a raccoon.
He is always hungry
So he sings of koi koi koi.
He will rub his head and tummy,
Rub head and rum tum tum.
Makeruna makeruna,
Osho-san ni makeruna
Koi koi koi koi-koi-koi
Minna dete koi-koi-koi
Sho sho sho-jo-ji,
Sho-jo-ji is a raccoon.
He is always hungry
So he sings of koi koi koi.
Always a-hungry very hungry
That's why he sings of koi.
The lyrics of "Sho-Jo-Ji" tell the story of a raccoon named Sho-Jo-Ji who is constantly hungry, and so he sings about his favorite food, koi. The song conveys Sho-Jo-Ji's desperation for food as he rubs his head and tummy, presumably in anticipation of his next meal that consists of various foods such as macaroons, macaroni, jelly beans, pink abalone, and most of all, koi.
The repetition of the phrase "Always a-hungry very hungry, That's why he sings of koi" emphasizes Sho-Jo-Ji's insatiable appetite for koi, and his desperation to find it. The bridge "Makeruna makeruna, Osho-san ni makeruna," which roughly translates to "Don't give up, don't give up, don't give in to the priest," may suggest that Sho-Jo-Ji will steal koi from a temple, despite the religious consequences.
Overall, "Sho-Jo-Ji" conveys a lighthearted and playful story of a raccoon's hunger and his love for koi, all set to a whimsical tune.
Line by Line Meaning
Sho sho sho-jo-ji,
Introducing Sho-jo-ji, a raccoon
Sho-jo-ji is a raccoon.
A description of Sho-jo-ji as a raccoon
He is always hungry
Sho-jo-ji is always hungry
So he sings of koi koi koi.
He sings about his hunger with the word 'koi'
He will rub his head and tummy,
Sho-jo-ji rubs his head and stomach
Rub head and rum tum tum.
He rubs his head and stomach as he's hungry
Macaroons and macaroni,
He's hungry for macaroons and macaroni
Jelly beans, and pink abalone,
Also hungry for jelly beans and pink abalone
Koi, koi, koi, koi, koi, koi
Always talking about his hunger with 'koi'
All he says is koi koi koi
He constantly expresses his hunger with 'koi'
Makeruna makeruna,
Don’t lose, don’t lose
Osho-san ni makeruna
Don’t lose to the temple master
Koi koi koi koi-koi-koi
Still mentioning his hunger with 'koi'
Minna dete koi-koi-koi
Everyone come and join in saying 'koi'
Always a-hungry very hungry
Reiterating that Sho-jo-ji is always hungry
That's why he sings of koi.
This is why he sings about his hunger with 'koi'
Writer(s): bill walsh
Contributed by David D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@shanaiaestrada6154
Who is here because of alex and seve HAHAHAH😂♥️
@mamakatofaotearoa197
Ang kulit 😂🤣
@roanneaubreydeguzman192
Meee 😁
@jaysonaguilar6088
Actually na discover lang ni Alex yan kay Wack Kiray sa Lunch Out Loud, but I think Alex recognized the song dahil part sya nung childhood nya as batang 90's.
Yung narinig natin na version neto nung bata pa tayo ay yung version ng GELATO na kumanta rin ng Penguin's Game 😊
@Shooooooooooooooooowwwwwww
MAREEEE HAHAHAHAHA
@rahmjay6578
me.😂
@denciecenteno9350
Like sa mga nandito dahil sa Gonzaga sister’s at kay Seve! 😂😍
@luelzone7474
Hahaha 🤣 from Alex IG stories
@jaysonaguilar6088
Actually na discover lang ni Alex yan kay Wack Kiray sa Lunch Out Loud, but I think Alex recognized the song dahil part sya nung childhood nya as batang 90's.
Yung narinig natin na version neto nung bata pa tayo ay yung version ng GELATO na kumanta rin ng Penguin's Game 😊
@sheyissi0
Same hahahahah