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.
Want To Be Evil
Eartha Kitt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Well I'm tired of being pure and not chased!
Like something that seeks its level,
I wanna go to the devil!
I wanna be evil,
I wanna spit tacks!
I wanna be evil
I wanna be wicked,
I wanna tell lies!
I wanna be mean
And throw mud pies
I want to wake up in the morning with that dark brown taste,
I wanna see some dissipation in my face!
I wanna be evil,
I wanna be mad!
But more than that,
I wanna be bad!
I wanna be evil
And trump an ace,
Just to see
My partner's face!
I wanna be nasty,
I wanna be cruel!
I wanna be daring,
I wanna shoot pool!
And in the theater I want to change my seat,
Just so I can step on everybody's feet!
I wanna be evil,
I wanna hurt flies!
I wanna sing songs
Like the guy who crie-ie-ie-ie-ie-ies!
I wanna be horrid,
I wanna drink booze!
And whatever I've got
I'm eager to lose!
I wanna be evil,
Little evil me!
Just as mean and evil
As I can be!
The lyrics to Eartha Kitt's "I Want to be Evil" express a yearning for rebellion, to break free from the constraints of societal expectations and to embrace a darker, more "evil" side. As a prim and proper girl who has never been kissed, the singer feels suffocated by her virtuous image and desires to shed this persona.
The lyrics detail a laundry list of mischievous and immoral desires, such as cheating at games, telling lies, throwing mud pies, and intentionally stepping on people's feet. The singer also expresses a desire for dissipation and wild behavior, wanting to "drink booze" and lose whatever she has. The lyrics suggest a longing for excitement and a rejection of the mundane, respectable life she has been leading so far.
The song is playful in its tone and tongue-in-cheek in its presentation, but there is an underlying message of individualism and rejecting societal norms in favor of one's true desires. The song can be interpreted as a celebration of the rebellious spirit and a call to break free from societal expectations and live life on one's own terms.
Line by Line Meaning
Prim and proper, the girl who's never been kissed,
I am the type of girl they refer to as prim and proper, the one who has never experienced a romantic kiss before.
Well I'm tired of being pure and not chased!
I am bored of being innocent and not attracting any attention from the opposite sex.
Like something that seeks its level,
Similar to how water seeks its own level, I am looking for a life that matches my true nature.
I wanna go to the devil!
I desire to explore the darker, wicked aspects of life.
I wanna be evil,
I aspire to take on an immoral and malevolent persona.
I wanna spit tacks!
I want to be so angry and dangerous that I could spit out poisonous tacks.
And cheat at jacks!
I want to cheat while playing jacks, a simple game played with small metal or plastic objects, to show that I am cunning and deceptive.
I wanna be wicked,
I want to be truly evil, to dabble in evil deeds without any regrets.
I wanna tell lies!
I want to be a skilled liar and trickster, to manipulate people with my words and false promises.
I wanna be mean
I want to be cruel and sadistic, to take pleasure in causing others pain or discomfort.
And throw mud pies
I want to get back at others in a childish manner, like throwing mud pies.
I want to wake up in the morning with that dark brown taste,
I want to indulge in activities that are frowned upon, to wake up after a long night of drinking or smoking with a certain bad taste in my mouth.
I wanna see some dissipation in my face!
I want there to be obvious signs of my dissipated lifestyle on my face, like wrinkles or redness.
I wanna be mad!
I want to let go of my inhibitions and sanity, to behave in a way that is not considered normal or rational.
But more than that,
However, there is something greater that I am after…
I wanna be bad!
I want to break all the rules, to be someone who others are afraid to cross.
And trump an ace,
I want to be able to one-up my opponents, to surprise them with my tactics and outsmart them.
Just to see
For the sole purpose of observing
My partner's face!
The reaction on my partner's face, to see their surprise, shock, or anger at my actions.
I wanna be nasty,
I want to be obnoxious and irritating by causing discomfort or displeasure to others.
I wanna be cruel!
I desire to revel in acts of cruelty, to bring others pain where I see fit.
I wanna be daring,
I want to live dangerously, to do things that others are too afraid to attempt.
I wanna shoot pool!
I want to play pool, but with an attitude of superiority and dominance over my opponent.
And in the theater I want to change my seat,
In the theater, I want to assert myself over others by changing my seat to a better one, even if it means stepping on their toes in the process.
Just so I can step on everybody's feet!
I want to make it clear that I am in charge, even if it means hurting others in the process.
I wanna hurt flies!
I want to show my aggression even towards helpless insects like flies.
I wanna sing songs
I want to express myself through dark and despairing melodies.
Like the guy who crie-ie-ie-ie-ie-ies!
I want to sing songs like the ones sung by a man who expresses his sadness in a heart-wrenching manner.
I wanna be horrid,
I want to be an abomination, to be repulsive and disliked by everyone.
I wanna drink booze!
I want to indulge in strong alcoholic beverages, to be in a state of inebriation that may lead to reckless behavior.
And whatever I've got
My possessions or virtues, it doesn't matter.
I'm eager to lose!
I am willing to give up whatever I have, even if it is something good or valuable, as long as it means living my life to the fullest as an evil person.
I wanna be evil,
I want to be seen as malicious and wicked, to embrace my inner darkness and let it manifest outwardly.
Little evil me!
I see myself as a small and insignificant person, but one who can still achieve great evil deeds.
Just as mean and evil
Identical in evilness as others.
As I can be!
To become the ultimate representation of what it means to be an evil entity.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: LESTER JUDSON, RAYMOND TAYLOR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind