Eartha Kitt Dies

[Lou]

SHOWBIZ legend Eartha Kitt — famous for singing the 1953 hit Santa Baby — has died, it was announced last night.

A pal said the 81-year-old actress, singer, and cabaret star was killed by colon cancer.

Kitt, who also played Catwoman in the 1960s TV series Batman, was well-known for her growl-like purr.

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She born on a cotton plantation in South Carolina.

In 1950, movie legend Orson Welles gave Eartha her first big role, as Helen of Troy in Dr Faustus.

For the next 20 years she made appearances in films, TV shows and nightclubs.

She played Catwoman after Julie Newmar left.

She later starred as the Wicked Witch of the West on stage in The Wizard of Oz and voiced Kaa the python in a BBC radio adaptation of The Jungle Book.

Welles called her “the most exciting woman in the world”.

Wonderful singer, a great loss