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.
Too Close For Comfort
Eartha Kitt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Be wise, be smart, behave my heart
Don't upset your cart when she's so close
Be soft, be sweet, but be discreet
Don't go off your feet
She's too close for comfort
Too close, too close to know just when to say when
Be firm and be fair, be sure, beware
On your guard, take care
When there's such temptation
One thing leads to another
Too late to run for cover
She's much too close for comfort'
Doo-ba-um-doody-doo-ba, doo-doo-doo'
Be wise, be fair, be sure, beware
Put on your old thinking cap, boy
'Cause if you don't look out, you
Will find that you are much too
Too close for comfort
Go ahead, and for a mishap, boy
The first thing that you know she
Will have you up that old tree
She's too close for comfort
Too close, too close, ah, too close
Ba-doo-da
Be firm and be fair, be absolutely sure, beware
On your guard, take care
When there is such temptation
One thing leads to another
Too late to run for cover
She's much too close for comfort now
One thing leads to another
Too late to run for cover
She's much too close for comfort now
One thing leads to another
Too late to run for mother
She's much too close for comfort now
Be wise, be fair, be sure, be there, behave, beware
She's too close, too close, for comfort now
The lyrics to Eartha Kitt's song "Too Close For Comfort" discuss the dangers of being too close to someone, particularly in a romantic sense. The singer warns the listener to be wise, fair, sure, and present, but also to behave and beware. The song's lyrics advise the listener not to upset the cart when someone is so close, but also not to go off their feet. The singer notes that she is too close for comfort, and warns that one thing can lead to another and it can be too late to run for cover. The song advises the listener to be on guard and take care, particularly when there is temptation.
The song ultimately suggests that being too close to someone can lead to trouble, and that it is important to maintain a level of distance and self-control. This message can be interpreted in a variety of ways, from cautioning about the dangers of passion to advising people to maintain boundaries in their personal relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
Be wise, be fair, be sure, be there, behave, beware
Be smart, be personable, have confidence, be present, act appropriately, be cautious
Be wise, be smart, behave my heart
Be intelligent and don't let your emotions control you
Don't upset your cart when she's so close
Don't mess up the situation when she's nearby
Be soft, be sweet, but be discreet
Be gentle and kind, but keep things private
Don't go off your feet
Don't lose your balance
She's too close for comfort
She's too near for you to be comfortable
Too close, too close for comfort, no, not again
She's too close and it's making you uncomfortable, this has happened before
Too close, too close to know just when to say when
She's too close and you're not sure when to draw the line
Be firm and be fair, be sure, beware
Be strict, but just, have confidence, be alert
On your guard, take care
Be cautious and protect yourself
When there's such temptation
When you're faced with something tempting
One thing leads to another
One action leads to another
Too late to run for cover
It's too late to avoid consequences
She's much too close for comfort'
She's uncomfortably near
Put on your old thinking cap, boy
Think hard about the situation
'Cause if you don't look out, you
Because if you don't pay attention
Will find that you are much too
You'll realize that you're too
Go ahead, and for a mishap, boy
Go ahead and make a mistake
The first thing that you know she
She will do something before you realize it
Will have you up that old tree
She will have you in trouble
Too close, too close, ah, too close
She's too close, it's uncomfortable
Be absolutely sure
Be completely certain
Too close, too close for comfort now
She's too close and it's making you uncomfortable at this moment
Too late to run for mother
It's too late to ask for help
Don't upset your cart when she's so close
Don't ruin the situation when she's too near
One thing leads to another
One action leads to more actions
Be wise, be fair, be sure, be there, behave, beware
Be smart, be just, have confidence, be present, act appropriately, be cautious
She's too close, too close, for comfort now
She's uncomfortably close at this moment
Lyrics © BOCK IP LLC, BMG Rights Management, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: George David Weiss, Jerry Bock, Larry Holofcener
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind