Eartha Kitt
Personal:
Born: January 27, 1927 / Died: December 25, 2008 at age 81;
Divorced; 1 child; 2 grandchildren.
Lifetime Gig:
Singer, Actress, Activist
Education:
Life
Why she’s a Brick Sandwich Woman of the Week:
She pulled herself up from nothing, literally. She was conceived from a rape and born in the cotton fields of South Carolina. She was raised by a woman she initially believed to be her mother, only to be rejected when her “mother” married a man who resented Eartha for being mulatto. She was shipped to relatives poorer than she. Finally, she was went to live with woman named Mamie Kitt. Eartha was told this was her aunt, but was in all likelihood her biological mother who abandoned her out of shame.
If this is your start in life, how do you become an internationally acclaimed actress and singer who danced with the Katherine Dunham Company and performed in over 100 countries? How do you become who Orson Welles calls “the most exciting woman in the world?”
Easy: Just be Eartha Kitt.
Nearly two years ago, the world lost a legend. A woman that wasn’t afraid of her voice and did not make any apologies for who she was, even if others didn’t agree with who that was.
Personal Quotes:
"My recipe for life is not being afraid of myself, afraid of what I think or of my opinions."
"The river is constantly turning and bending and you never know where it's going to go and where you'll wind up. Following the bend in the river and staying on your own path means that you are on the right track. Don't let anyone deter you from that."
"I`ve always said to my men friends, If you really care for me, darling, you will give me territory. Give me land, give me land."
"I punish myself more than anybody else does if I am stupid about my actions, and I suffer, really suffer."
