Wow. Talk about making a lasting impression. I never realized it until I loooked into it this morning, but Eartha Kitt was actually in only 3 Batman episodes:

• Catwoman’s Dressed to Kill (1967)
• The Funny Feline Felonies (1967)
• The Joke’s on Catwoman (1968)

It seems like her beautiful face and remarkable voice were around for a lot more. That’s the beauty of syndication.. multiplication.

Sadly, Eartha Kitt passed away yesterday – on Christmas Day.

The 5′ 4″ beauty was born in South Carolina. Her birth was the result of a white plantation owner raping a sharecropper mother of African-American and Cherokee Native American descent. I wasn’t going to include that bit of ugliness in this article, but the fact that Eartha came from such unremarkable beginnings, yet ended her life known the world over strikes me as spectacular!

I also wanted to be clear about why her mother would even think about giving her baby girl away – which she did. By the age of 9, Eartha was living in Harlem. She dropped out of school by the age of 15. Eartha was too busy just trying to survive – school didn’t rank up there with finding a place to sleep and something to eat. During this time, she slept at friends houses and on the subway.

While Eartha Kitt was born with a lot of burdens to bear, she was also born with a lot of talent. She literally sang and danced her way to a better life. Eartha performed with the Katherine Dunham Dance Troupe on a European tour, and she performed as a solist at a Paris night club, where she became a very big deal. Get this, the infamous Orson Welles called her “the most exciting girl in the world.”

Eartha Kitt never shied away from speaking her mind. I guess when you’ve already seen life’s ugliest, you throw caution aside – sort of like, “What do I need with you?!” She was all but booted from the country after making anti-war statements during a White House luncheon with Lady Bird Johnson in 1968. It wasn’t until 1977, under Jimmy Carter’s administration, that she was welcomed back to the White House.

Eartha Kitt Quotes:
“I have a great need for affection from an audience. I don’t know whether this is because I had such a tough life when I was a child.”

At the White House, 1968: “I am a mother and I know the feeling of having a baby come out of my gut. I have a baby and then you send him off to war. No wonder the kids rebel and take pot.”

“I don’t carry myself as a black person, but as a woman that belongs to everybody”

“Jamie and I were like brother and sister. He told me in fact he thought of me as a sister. Our relationship was strictly platonic and spiritual.” (About her friendship with James Dean.)

Eartha Kitt was 81 when she passed away, but (again) thanks to syndication, she’ll forever live on just as we remembered her.

Rest in Purrrrrrrrfect Peace, Eartha.

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Catwoman Double-sided poster
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We might as well admit it – even raise a mug of coffee and toast to it – 40 IS the new 30. Recently, Johnny Depp (and other 40ish actors) dominated a “Sexiest man alive” poll in Cosmo magazine. Now, gorgeous Halle Berry has added another accomplishment for the fab 40’s.

Halle Berry was named “Sexiest Woman Alive” by Esquire magazine – a choice that’s completely impossible to find fault with. So, in her honor, today is Halle Berry Day on Hollywood Yesterday. You can’t be that fine and talented and not get recognized for it.

Did You Know?
Halle Berry was born on August 14 (my birthday as well!) in 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Halle has an older sister named Heidi but, unfortunately, the sisters are estranged.

Representing her home state of Ohio, Halle Berry won the Miss Teen All-American Pageant in 1985.

In 1986, she was the runner-up in the Miss USA Pageant.

Her first TV series was Living Dolls. On set, she earned a reputation for her tireless commitment to her craft. She became known as an actress who didn’t just “play” a role, she became the role – even after the cameras stopped rolling.

Halle Berry is a type 1 diabetic.

In high school, Halle was in the honor society, was editor of the school paper, and class president. Naturally, she also crowned prom queen.

Halle Berry was the first African American actress to win the Oscar for Best Actress.

Her amazing dress for the 2002 Oscars ceremony was voted the most popular from the first 75 years.

On Febuary 26, 2005, she showed up in person to accept the Razzie award for Worst Actress for her role as Catwoman. She was the first actress to ever do so! Accepting the award, Halle Berry smiled her beautiful smile and said “Thank you and I hope to God I never see you guys again.”

She was one of only three actresses (Faye Dunaway and Liza Minnelli) to win both the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Razzie Award for Worst Actress (And Faye Dunaway even shared her award – with Bo Derek).

Her favorite actresses are Dorothy Dandridge, Jodie Foster and Whoopi Goldberg.

The dedicated Halle refused to bathe for two weeks in preparation for a role as a crack addict in Jungle Fever (1991).

She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 3, 2007.

Halle was saved from choking (on a fig) by the best Bond ever, Pierce Brosnan, while shooting Die Another Day.

Halle and her longtime boyfriend, Gabriel Aubry, became the parents of a daughter named Nahla Ariela Aubry on 16 March 2008.

Halle Berry Quotes:

“This moment is so much bigger than me, This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll… It’s for the women that stand beside me, Jada Pinkett Smith, Angela Bassett, Vivica A. Fox… and it’s for every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance, because the door tonight has been opened.” – During her Oscar acceptance speech.

“There’s art and there’s commerce. You have to find a way to mesh the two. It’s important to do the little movies just for the love of the art. But it’s those big movies that take you around the world and make you globally famous.”

“I want to be the next Spike Lee. I want to help other black folks to get into Hollywood and be successful in Hollywood.”

“What is my real purpose here? I’ve looked at what I do. I make believe and make movies. I entertain people and get paid for it. Sometimes it seems like such a shallow existence. How insignificant in the scheme of life.”

“I never wanted to be a model. My modeling career was nothing but a stepping stone to my acting career and that’s all I ever saw it as. A pointless rock in the river that has to be stepped on in order to get to the meaningful oasis of acting.”

(While pregnant) “I am three times the girl I used to be. This is the second red carpet where I didn’t have to think about sucking in my stomach – because I can’t!”

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