Eartha Kitt

"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."
-- Eartha Kitt

Article by Melody Daniel,
Artistic Lemonade Editor

When Eartha Mae Kitt was born in rural South Carolina in 1927, no one could have predicted that the unwanted daughter of a black Cherokee sharecropper and a white man — abused by the family with whom she lived as a child because of her “yella” complexion — would become an artist whose unmistakable voice, straight talk and intoxicating beauty would make the world swoon for generations to come.

Although she later became known as a diva, Kitt spent the early years of her life in a pattern of abuse and extreme poverty. She became an advocate for homeless children and she retained the strength of self-reliance that she had to build as an abused child throughout her life. In her own words, “I was given away. If your mother gives you away, you think everybody who comes into your life is going to give you away."

Eartha Kitt grew up without many of the things that most people take for granted — a family, a home, a safe place to sleep, a birthday (she finally learned the date of her birth in 1997) — and yet she found joy in the arts and managed to see opportunity around each corner from a young age. She lived the spirit of Artistic Lemonade, and she found those things that were missing from her childhood later in her life. She often referred to the public as her family, and she built a family of her own as a mother and a grandmother.

She followed the path of her life without hesitation and without regret or fear. As an artist and as a person, she refused to be defined by others or to be limited to any one style or form. In the role of Catwoman on the Batman television series, Kitt once spoke the lines, “I am learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma. “ The words fit the actress as well as the character — so much so that the quote is often attributed to Kitt herself. She was a student of living who soaked up every moment of life and learning she could find on this earth. In her passing the world has lost an irrepressible spirit, an adventurous artist, and a lady who was all about the lemonade.

"My recipe for life is not being afraid of myself,
afraid of what I think or of my opinions."
-- Eartha Kitt

This article's permanent location is
http://www.artistic-lemonade.com/archive/014.htm

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

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