Ninety-five years ago today, Eartha Kitt made her earthly debut in Orangeburg County, South Carolina. Her story is a truly remarkable one, from her casting as Catwoman for Season 3 of Batman, to being blacklisted in the United States in 1968 due to remarks she made at the White House.
At the time, I missed Julie Newmar, but as time went on, Eartha’s character really grew on me. And I have a personal connection as well, as I worked with a blood relative of hers at Kaufmann’s (later Macy’s) in the Binghamton, New York area. Some of Eartha’s family had moved from the South to the New York City area, which is where Eartha’s career got her start. She built a solid career, which included a very memorable appearance on an early 1967 episode of Mission: Impossible, proving that she could play a heroine and action figure. This may have been a real deal maker when it came to casting her as Catwoman.
Fast forward to 2007, and the Feline Fatale we worked with on Batman 1969 was a true replica of Ms. Kitt. Millicent Sherman, a Detroit native, made the trek to Strathroy, Ontario to work on the production, and she was a true delight to work with!!! It really sealed everything with me as far as Eartha was concerned, and Millicent herself garnered praise for her purr-formance (pun intended)!!!
Sadly, Eartha left us on Christmas Day 2008, fitting since she had done the song Santa Baby some 55 years earlier. She left behind a daughter, grandchildren—and a fantastic legacy for all of us to enjoy even today!!!
—Timothy J. Forbes
