Eartha Kitt - Style Icon

I was lucky enough to see Eartha Kitt perform in Paris. She was amazing, and held the room captive when she sang. She was the original for the type of powerful woman who knows how to use their sexuality. She was the kind of woman who could scare a man - a real "man-eater!"

The self-proclaimed "Original Material Girl," Eartha Kitt captured an audience that spans five generations. Her hits include "Just an Old Fashioned Girl", "Monotonous", and her most recognizable hit, "Santa Baby." She was fluent in French and has always been very popular in Europe.

Eartha Mae Kitt-Fields was born in South Carolina, in 1927, of a half African-American half Cherokee mother, who had been raped by the white owner of a plantation. When Eartha was 8 she was sent to live with her aunt in Harlem, she quit school at 15 and lived for a time in the subways.

In 1950 she was spotted by Orson Welles, who gave her the role of Helen of Troy in his stage version of Dr Faust. He reportedly called her ‘the most exciting woman in the world.”