Eartha Kitt

American singer and actress who rose from grinding, abject poverty; an illegitimate child of a half-black, half-American Indian woman and a white father whose identity she never learned. She was called "yella gal" and shunned by her South Carolina neighbors. At one time, little Eartha Mae, her mom and half-sister lived in a forest, surviving on wild berries. Eventually her mom ran off, leaving her to neighbors who subjected her to merciless beatings. At eight, she was rescued by Aunt Mamie, who brought her to Harlem to live. It was there she got her first break, learned to dance with the all-black Katherine Dunham Company.

She escaped to Europe as a dancer, learning her craft and breaking hearts as a member of the Dance Troupe. After meeting her in Paris in 1951, Orson Welles dubbed her the most exciting woman alive. Her Broadway breakthrough came with "New Faces of 1952." She had a couple hit records, "C'est Si Bon" and "Santa Baby" and a stint as Catwoman on the "Batman" TV series.

She was once banned in Boston after terrifying the Brahmans with her predatory sexuality. When she famously denounced the Vietnam War in front of Lady Bird Johnson, she was unwelcome in America for six years, 1968-1974.

Her up-and-down career was echoed with her love life. She married only once, briefly, to realtor Bill McDonald, the father of her one daughter, Kitt Shapiro. She had two long, intense relationships, cinema king Arthur Loew Jr. and cosmetic baron Charles Revson.

Kitt speaks six languages, has written three autobiographies, including "I'm Still Here," 1990 and has been nominated for two Tony's, an Emmy and two Grammy's. A gutsy, sexy feminist who never was a shrinking violet, she stood up for causes long before they were considered chic, the environment, the homeless, civil right, AIDS, declaring when something is important, it is important to stand up for it.