Eartha Kitt, the American singer, dancer, actress and self-professed “sex-kitten” who has died aged 81, was one of the most remarkable and distinctive entertainers in the history of cabaret and the light musical stage.
[...]She crossed the Channel, and landed her big break in Paris in 1951, when, after giving a spellbinding and largely improvised performance at a nightclub, she was spotted by Orson Welles, who cast her in his play Time Runs, based on the Faust legend. “I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I did what came naturally. Orson accepted it. He hardly bothered to direct me. When I asked him: ‘How old is this woman and what kind of person is she?’ he just said: ‘The reason I chose you for Helen is because you represent all women of all times.’”
It was while learning French that Eartha Kitt discovered the rolled ‘r’ that would become key to her trademark ‘grrr-owl’. She continued to perform in London, however, where her unique, sexually-charged stage persona began to emerge. “I began in England to be Eartha Kitt more than I did anywhere else,” she said.
Her voice work was priceless, too.
(via telegraph.co.uk, frederator)
