EARTHA KITT

An article from PANACHEREPORT.COM'S WEBSITE.

BLACK CELEBRITIES WHO DIED WITH LITTLE OR NO FANFARE-PART 1.

The segment,  "EARTHA & THE VIETNAM WAR SCANDAL", is very interesting.

EARTHA MAE KITT - 17 01 1927 to 25 01 2008

*Introduction: Orson Wells called her the most exciting woman in the world. She was pursued by billionaires, celebrities and diplomats. She was the epitome of class and sophistication. There will never be another Eartha Kitt. May you RIP. -MP

"EARTHA KITT DEAD AT THE AGE OF  81"

Eartha Mae Kitt was born on a cotton plantation in the tiny town of North, South Carolina. Though her ancestry is somewhat uncertain, she stated her mother was of African-American and Native American descent, and her father, German and Dutch descent. She claimed she was conceived by rape.

Kitt was raised by Anna Mae Riley, a black woman whom she believed to be her mother, but after Riley's death, she was sent to live in New York City with Mamie Kitt, reportedly Riley's sister. Eartha Kitt believes that Mamie Kitt was her biological mother.

Kitt suffered terrible abuse and neglect at the hands of a family to whom Anna Mae Riley entrusted her, or  "given away for slavery" as Kitt described in many interviews.

These same family members tried to approach Kitt when (she had achieved success). She was leaving the theater after a performance. They screamed out, "Eartha Mae," she knew it was them before she even turned around because only family members called her Eartha Mae.

She said, childhood abuse memories came back and she stiffened without even turning around, she casually stepped in her limo and instructed her driver to drive off.

For years, Kitt was unsure of her birthplace or birth date. In 1997, a group of students at historically black Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina, located her birth certificate, which verified her birth date as Jan. 17, 1927. Kitt had previously celebrated on Jan. 26.

Eartha Kitt says, "I often think of my mother. Though I do not remember what she looked like, I feel her presence with me all the time. I still feel her warmth, her beauty, as she played with Pearl, my half-sister."

"We were so poor, most of the time we lived in the forest, or at least slept there covered with pine straw. I remember, a long, long period, we had been traveling a lot. I don't know where we had come from or where we were going, but I walked barefoot on the longest road I had ever seen."

"One day, we looked for shelter, during this time, other Blacks looked out for one another and helped as best they could."

"Momma turned on a pathway leading to a house. She knocked on the door a few times and it opened. I don't know what the face behind the voice looked like as I was busy hiding against Momma's back, not wanting to be seen. Momma asked for shelter and food, pleading softly with the woman. I could hear her saying, 'Just for tonight...my children are hungry and tired."

"As I glanced up to take a quick peek at the voice's owner, she was looking around to see what was hiding: 'No, I don't want that yella gal in my house."

"I wondered, why was I called a yella gal? But this wasn't the first time I heard the term and this wasn't the first time we were rejected from shelter because of my complexion."

"The next scene I remember is Momma talking to a black man, when he took one look at me, he also rejected us."

"Some time later we came to a tiny cottage. Momma knocked on the door. When the door opened I stiffened with fear, afraid of rejection. To my surprise, the older lady invited us in and invited us to stay with her."

A short time later, I realized she was blind and couldn't see my complexion to reject us.

"A few months later, I overheard a conversation between Momma and a man, she was pleading with him to take us in as a family, he shouted, "I don't want that yella gal in my house."

"Later that day, Momma left Pearl and I in the house and met the same man outside. Momma and the man walked away arm in arm and I stood at the window looking out at them. Momma seemed so happy."

"This was the last time I ever saw my mother."

Source: "Confessions Of A Sex Kitten," by Eartha Kitt

                                                           

"EARTHA & THE VIETNAM WAR SCANDAL"

During the height of her popularity, Eartha Kitt was invited to the White House by President Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson.

She joined Lady Bird Johnson, along with several other prominent ladies for a discussion on the Vietnam war. Kitt became irritated when the women skirted the subject, instead, discussing on how to beautify America.

When she took the floor, she said as much. "I think we have missed out on something here today, I thought the question was about the Vietnam war and why is there so much juvenile delinquency on the streets of America?"

Suddenly, the First Lady rose from her seat and said, "Just because there is a war going on, I see no reason to be uncivilized."

She didn't like Eartha's tone which she considered uppity.

The lunch was suddenly over, abruptly, without explanation.

Kitt had a limousine when she came, but now, the limo was no longer available to her.

Kitt flagged down a cab. On the radio she heard, "Eartha Kitt makes the First Lady cry." She was stunned. The reporter also stated that Kitt conducted herself like a raving mad lunatic at the White House, which was also false.

Martin Luther King called and said, "We are proud of you Eartha, for speaking your mind."

Since the time was nearing for Kitt to honor a contractual agreement at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, she called her agent for the details of rehearsals. Strangely, he asked, what contract are you talking about? There is no contract, Eartha.

In the meantime, due to her disagreement with Lady Bird Johnson, the President was making it obvious to all the media that she was out of favor.

Meanwhile, every single one of her dates were suddenly cancelled.

According to Kitt, a CIA dossier was compiled, stating: She was a sadist, a sex nymphomaniac, crude, shrewd and difficult.

According to the file, President Johnson had put her out of work in America in two hours.

Source: "Confessions Of A Sex Kitten," by Eartha Kitt