[Dixielandjazz] Santa Baby

[Steve Barbone]

Soon to be 80 and still going strong . . . Eartha Kitt. OKOM for some of us,
no doubt, but also full of life and good advice for those of us in her
generation. 

Cheers,
Steve Barbone


Still in the Limelight, on Her Own Terms

NY TIMES - By FELICIA R. LEE - December 2, 2006

³If I had any regrets, it would mean I had not learned anything,² Eartha
Kitt said, sitting in the empty New World Stages theater on 50th Street.
Between performances as Madame Vallet in the Off Broadway musical ³Mimi le
Duck,² Ms. Kitt, who will turn 80 in January, talked about a busy year in
which she was featured in the musical, appeared at the Café Carlyle and
released a new album of live songs. And now, on Thursday, she will be at the
White House¹s Christmas tree lighting and will sing ³Santa Baby² and ³Have
Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,² all while battling colon cancer.

Snuggled in a plush blue seat, Ms. Kitt, wearing a flowing red print robe
and a pixie haircut that showcased her huge eyes, gave a short preview of
one of the songs she intends to sing. For those with long memories, the
invitation might seem surprising. Her most famous visit to the White House
was nearly 40 years ago during another unpopular war (Vietnam); her
unexpectedly pointed comments about American involvement reportedly made
Lady Bird Johnson cry and nearly derailed her stage, film and singing
career. 

³When I was against Vietnam I was asked in the White House itself, by Mrs.
Johnson, what the problem was among our young people,² Ms. Kitt explained,
saying that she responded based on what she was told by youths. She had no
regrets about speaking honestly, she added, even after being forced to work
abroad for a number of years afterward.

So does Ms. Kitt plan on commenting on current policy? It depends on who is
asking what, she replied. She does not believe in setting up a soapbox: ³I
think now it¹s gotten somewhat out of hand, because I don¹t believe in
blurting out whatever you feel,² she said, referring to celebrities who have
recently expressed antiwar sentiments. ³Whether you believe in the war or
not, we still have to support our boys.²

If she¹s worried about anything concerning the visit, it¹s probably stage
fright. Even after all these years, she admits.

³I get so nervous,² she said. Ms. Kitt traces her anxiety back to her
upbringing as a biracial child in South Carolina, rejected by both blacks
and whites: ³I am always afraid of being rejected. You never get away from
it. I am very glad the public has made me who I am because I can feel I¹m
worthwhile when I hear the applause and I¹m still wanted.²

She added, ³I am extremely lucky to be in show business and have earned my
own way with the help of the public without having to feel that I want a man
to take care of me for the rest of my life.²

Does that mean she considers herself a feminist? She roared in response.
³No, I don¹t believe in all that nonsense,² said Ms. Kitt, who was married
once and has been linked to famous men like Porfirio Rubirosa, Charles
Revson and Arthur Loew Jr. ³When they started that nonsense, nobody sent me
roses anymore, let alone the diamond rings. I used to get furs and diamonds
from men, and they¹d open doors for me, lay out the red carpet. Now, I don¹t
even get a petal.²

Still, Ms. Kitt, whom Orson Welles once called ³the most exciting woman in
the world,² says she is content to be without a man. Ms. Kitt said she would
probably spend her birthday quietly with her only child, Kitt Shapiro, and
her two grandchildren.

³Aging is a natural process, so enjoy it,² she said, adding that she has
never resorted to anything other than exercising, eating right and keeping a
positive attitude to look good. ³I don¹t believe in chopping up my face in
order to look like something I might have looked like when I was 30.²

The diagnosis of cancer in the lower part of her colon this spring came as a
surprise. She found out as she prepared for surgery for carpal tunnel
syndrome in both hands from constant needlepoint and boxing (which she said
she had taken up for fun and exercise). When the doctors did blood work,
they found she was dangerously anemic and bleeding internally.

³I advise everybody to get a colonoscopy,² Ms. Kitt said. ³I was walking
around with no pain at all, and I felt weak from time to time.² When the
doctor told her that she had to go to the hospital right away, she recalls
responding, ³ ŒNo, I¹ve got two concerts to do.¹ I only canceled one thing,
and that was a private party.²

Ms. Kitt said she was not afraid of the operation to remove the cancer.
³It¹s like five bullet holes in my stomach,² she said and laughed. She took
an oral chemotherapy medication and described herself as being at the end of
her treatment. ³They said you can be on this pill, and it can give you three
more years of your life, and it may not; we don¹t know. In three weeks time
I¹ll get another examination and find out if I¹m O.K.²

In any case, retirement is not a word in her vocabulary, she said. ³In many
ways I¹m still playing Catwoman,² she said, referring to her famous stint on
the 1960s television series ³Batman,² ³no matter how old I get.²

Ms. Kitt and the cast of ³Mimi le Duck,² which closes tomorrow, are
recording the songs from the musical. On June 25 she is planning to appear
at Carnegie Hall, singing some old standards and new tunes.

³If there¹s one seat empty, I¹m going to feel ŒO.K., it¹s time for me to go
home now,¹ ² she said, gracing the empty theater with one of her familiar
and long Catwoman laughs.