Eartha Kitt sells out Symphony Hall

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Eartha Kitt sells out Symphony Hall

Eartha Kitt sells out Symphony Hall

On Friday night Eartha Kitt performs with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Jere Flint, in the first of two sold out nights at Symphony Hall.

Singing in ten different languages, Eartha Kitt has performed in over 100 countries and was honored with a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. She is one of only a handful of performers to be nominated for a Tony (three times), the Grammy (twice), and an Emmy Award.

Reverend Robert Ward and his wife Alberta, of College Park, enjoy Eartha Kitt's sold out performance at Symphony Hall Friday in Midtown.

In 1958, Eartha Kitt made her feature film debut opposite Sidney Poitier in The Mark of the Hawk. In 1968, Eartha Kitt's career took a sudden turn when, at a White House luncheon hosted by Lady Bird Johnson, she spoke out against the Vietnam War. For many years afterward, she was blacklisted by many in the U.S. entertainment industry and was forced to work abroad where her status remained undiminished.

Eartha Kitt's mother was Black Indian with Cherokee ancestry, and her father was European-American. This led to her being ostracized at an early age because of her mixed-race heritage. At eight years old, she was given away by her mother and sent from the South Carolina cotton fields to live with an aunt in Harlem.

Robert Marshall (left) and Jack Rowley, East Atlanta residents, await Eartha Kitt's entrance.

A diverse mix of fans enthusiastically filled Symphony Hall for eighty-year old Eartha Kitt Friday night.

Best known for her role as Catwoman in the 1960s TV series Batman (she succeeded Julie Newmar), and for her 1953 Christmas song "Santa Baby," Orson Welles once called Eartha Kitt "the most exciting woman in the world." Welles was so taken with her talent that he cast her as Helen of Troy in his production of Dr. Faust.

Miss Kitt won the 2001 ANNIE Award for Best Vocal Performance / Animated Feature in the role of Yzma, the villain in Disney⿿s animated feature The Emperor's New Groove. She is shown singing "C'est si bon" with the ASO.

American actress, singer, and cabaret star Eartha Kitt was born Eartha Mae Keith in tiny North, South Carolina on January 17, 1927.

On December 22, 2007, Miss Kitt she had the honor of lighting the National Christmas Tree in Washington D.C. alongside President and Mrs. George W. Bush. She was married to Bill McDonald from 1960 to 1965 and had one child, a daughter, Kitt Shapiro.

In a rare Atlanta appearance, legendary international entertainer Eartha Kitt enthralled a sold out Symphony Hall audience Friday evening in a celebration tour commemorating her 80th birthday.

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On Friday night Eartha Kitt performs with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Jere Flint, in the first of two sold out nights at Symphony Hall.

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