EARTHA KITT IGNITED THE STAGE

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EARTHA KITT

Eartha Kitt sure knows how to pose! Courtesy Photo

By Lee Hartgrave 

WAYBACK THEN: In the 80’s I did my first interview with Eartha Kitt. She was in town for a two week run at the glamorous and sumptuous Mocombo Club in San Francisco.

We met at the Holiday Inn Bar and Restaurant on Sutter and Powell Street.   Kitt came in with her little dog in her arms. The dog was so cute; it looked very much like “Toto”, Judy Garland’s little dog in The Wizard of Oz.  When we sat down in a booth to order. Kitt purred --  "I always drink Martini’s. So, I said, great, we’ll both have one. Well, one led to another. I could have sworn that she was making those vibrating noises like cats do.  In the meantime, I wondered what happened to the little doggie. Then I felt something humping my leg underneath the table. I was sure it wasn’t Kitt. I looked under and there was the little oversexed pup wrapped around my left leg, vibrating.  How did he know that I was left-handed?

Kitt looked much the same as she did when she sang ‘Monotonous’ in ‘New Faces’ on Broadway. So, it was easy to see why so many people were watching her in the Bar – how could they miss her. Kitt’s clutching, Cat like ways are a real give-a-way. Kitt told me: “Before I accepted the engagement at the club, I had to have it checked out in advance to make sure that it was the kind of place that I would want to perform in.” After –all, she did play the Whitehouse at one point. It doesn’t get any classier than that, does it? Until she spoke out against the ‘War’. Her career almost disappeared. It was The  Mocombo that brought her back from obscurity. She was a huge success during the run of the show, and her career blossomed. Variety picked up on it – and the bookings were coming in from around the world. Kitt was back on top.

Kitt orders another Martini and says: “I admire what they are tying to do at the Mocombo Room. You know, to bring intimate Night clubs back.” To what does she attribute her good health and timeless beauty? – “I am not a worrier.  I am not worried about how old I am. Anyway, I really don’t know, because I have never had a birth certificate. When I read in some newspaper or magazine my age, I have to laugh, because if I don’t know my age. How can they? Of course, I have to have a passport you know, so a friend of mine wrote a letter saying that she knew me for so many years. This helped prove my age. I got a work permit in New York when I was probably twelve years old – claiming, of course, that I was eighteen.”

ON THE OPENING. Kitt came out looking more glamorous than ever. And those eyes – they could actually burn holes in the wall. What a smouldering performance. But, she did send me a zinger. Several in the audience read my interview and bought Martini’s since she claimed they were her favorite. One even offered to buy her one. “She looked down from the stage with a disdainful look and said: “Oh no, I’m only a scotch and soda person.” I was wounded. Why did she try to sabotage me? My theory is that she really did like Martini’s, but used the “Scotch and Soda” routine in the act, because it sounded more robust and upper class. But, now that she has left us – we will never know. Over the years I interviewed Kitt three times. The last time was for a musical in San Francisco. I for one will miss her forever.

(The above is an excerpt from an Interview by Lee Hartgrave that was first published in the 80’s, in a Los Angeles magazine.)


(((Lee Hartgrave has contributed to the San Francisco Chronicle Sunday Datebook section and produced a long-running Arts segment on PBS KQED)))

You can also read Lee at:

www.beyondchron.org
www.forallevents.com

(TAGS: Eartha Kitt, Lee Hartgrave, Celebrities, Theater, Music, Fame)