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.
Under the Bridges of Paris
Eartha Kitt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tout's sort's de gueux se faufil'nt en cachette
Et sont heureux de trouver une couchette
Hôtel du courant d'air, où l'on ne paie pas cher
L'parfum et l'eau c'est pour rien mon marquis
Sous les ponts de Paris
Sous les ponts de Paris
Quel rendez-vous!
My darling why I sing this song
Is easy to explain
It tells what happens all along
The bridges of the Seine
The vagabonds go there at night
To sleep all their troubles away
But when the moon is shining bright
My heart wants to sing it this way
How would you like to be
Down by the Seine with me
Oh what I'd give for a moment or two
Under the bridges of Paris with you
Darling I'd hold you tight
Far from the eyes of night
Under the bridges of Paris with you
I'd make your dreams come true
Oh chérie, je veux apporter mes bras
Je veux apporter mon cœur
Je veux apporter all my love
Sous les ponts de Paris
Lorsque descends la nuit
Under the bridges of Paris with you
I'd make your dreams come true
I'd make your dreams come true
The song "Under the Bridges of Paris" by Eartha Kitt paints a romantic picture of the bridges of the Seine River in Paris. The lyrics describe how at night, homeless people sneak under the bridges and find a place to sleep. They are happy to have a place to rest, even if it is just under a bridge. The hôtel du courant d'air, translated as "hotel of the current of air," offers a free bed for the night. There is no charge for the smell and the water, and it is an ideal spot for those who have nowhere else to go. The chorus then changes the tone, describing the bridges as a meeting place for lovers. The singer sings to her lover about the possibility of being under the bridges of Paris with him or her, making their dreams come true.
Line by Line Meaning
Sous les ponts de Paris, lorsque descend la nuit
Under the bridges of Paris, when the night falls.
Tout's sort's de gueux se faufil'nt en cachette
All kinds of beggars sneak in secret.
Et sont heureux de trouver une couchette
And they're happy to find a place to rest.
Hôtel du courant d'air, où l'on ne paie pas cher
A hotel of the draft where you don't pay much.
L'parfum et l'eau c'est pour rien mon marquis
Perfume and water are for nothing, my marquis.
Sous les ponts de Paris
Under the bridges of Paris.
Sous les ponts de Paris
Under the bridges of Paris.
Quel rendez-vous!
What a meeting!
My darling why I sing this song
My love, let me explain why I sing this song.
Is easy to explain
It's easy to explain.
It tells what happens all along
It tells the story of what happens along.
The bridges of the Seine
The bridges of the Seine river.
The vagabonds go there at night
The homeless go there at night.
To sleep all their troubles away
To forget all their problems and sleep.
But when the moon is shining bright
But when the moonlight shines.
My heart wants to sing it this way
My heart sings it like this.
How would you like to be
Would you like to be?
Down by the Seine with me
With me by the Seine river.
Oh what I'd give for a moment or two
Oh, what I'd give for a few moments.
Under the bridges of Paris with you
Under the bridges of Paris with you.
Darling I'd hold you tight
My love, I'd hold you tightly.
Far from the eyes of night
Away from the watch of the night.
Under the bridges of Paris with you
Under the bridges of Paris with you.
I'd make your dreams come true
I'd make your dreams a reality.
Oh chérie, je veux apporter mes bras
Oh darling, I want to bring my arms.
Je veux apporter mon cœur
I want to bring my heart.
Je veux apporter all my love
I want to bring all my love.
Sous les ponts de Paris
Under the bridges of Paris.
Lorsque descends la nuit
When the night falls.
I'd make your dreams come true
I'd make your dreams a reality.
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT
Written by: JEAN RODOR, VINCENT SCOTTO, DORCAS COCHRAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@wolfgangterhorst5642
Sous les ponts de Paris, lorsque descend la nuit
Tout's sort's de gueux se faufil'nt en cachette
Et sont heureux de trouver une couchette
Hôtel du courant d'air, où l'on ne paie pas cher
L'parfum et l'eau c'est pour rien mon marquis
Sous les ponts de Paris
Sous les ponts de Paris
Quel rendez-vous!
My darling why I sing this song
Is easy to explain
It tells what happens all along
The bridges of the Seine
The vagabonds go there at night
To sleep all their troubles away
But when the moon is shining bright
My heart wants to sing it this way
How would you like to be
Down by the Seine with me
Oh what I'd give for a moment or two
Under the bridges of Paris with you
Darling I'd hold you tight
Far from…
@ausyralia
🦋❤️🦋 Oh my, sooooo beautiful. I can't stop listening to this song - especially Eartha Kitt's rendition. Simply BEAUTIFUL How blessed to be able to listen to such a beautiful song and Eartha's stunning, unusual sweet voice. I have not heard this song ever, but while out driving today, it came on the car radio; the Classical Station. First time and certainly wont be the last. If you're feeling a little of a pick me up, listen. You'll feel SO much alive and happy. Thank you. 🙏🦋🙏🦋
@mikesey1
I haven't heard this in 65 years!
What memories it brings back from my tenth year. Lovely, and thanks for uploading it. 👍👍
@davemapp1571
Eartha Kitt had an extraordinary talent. This is a sublimely wonderful & beautiful song.
@tomkat5626
I can still hear Lawrence Welk saying '' WONDERFUL WONDERFUL. WASNT THAT A DELIGHT'' It still is today.
@99672
A great singer. She spoke four languages (she is thought to have learned German and Dutch from her stepfather, English from her mother, and French from the European cabaret circuit) and sang in eleven !
@dennislawless3563
Beautiful
@helenellevsen2028
I could listen to this voice all day.
@ausyralia
Me too!! So very relaxing and pure magic. LOVE this song with Eartha singing it. Dean Martin sings it also, but no where as lovely as Eartha. Bye from Australia. 👋👋
@mikeyousofine
Absolutely wonderful Tommy. It is easy to forget just how beautiful Eartha was in her time. It is great to listen to her. Thank you for the pleasure.
@leonardhurley5761
A great classic by an outstanding artist.