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Kitty Carlisle (1910–2007)

Author of Kitty

1+ Work 31 Members 1 Review

About the Author

Includes the name: Kitty Carlisle

Image credit: Courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery (image use requires permission from the New York Public Library)

Works by Kitty Carlisle

Kitty (1988) 31 copies

Associated Works

Radio Days [1987 film] (1987) — Cameo — 85 copies
Six Degrees of Separation [1993 film] (1990) — Cameo — 39 copies
Song of Norway: Original Cast Recording (1945) — Performer — 5 copies
Murder at the Vanities [1934 film] — Actor — 4 copies
The merry widow + The student prince [sound recording] (2002) — Performer, some editions — 3 copies
Hollywood Canteen [1944 film] (1991) — Actor — 2 copies
Roberta / The Vagabond King [sound recording] (2002) — Performer — 1 copy
Here is My Heart [1934 film] — Actor — 1 copy

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Canonical name
Carlisle, Kitty
Legal name
Hart, Kitty Carlisle
Other names
Conn, Catherine (birth name)
Birthdate
1910-09-03
Date of death
2007-04-17
Burial location
Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York, USA
Gender
female
Nationality
USA
Birthplace
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Place of death
New York, New York, USA
Places of residence
New York, New York, USA
Education
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
London School of Economics
Sorbonne
Château Mont-Choisi
Occupations
actor
television personality
opera singer
patron of the arts
Relationships
Hart, Moss (husband)
Awards and honors
National Medal of Arts (1991)
Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts (1997)
American Theater Hall of Fame (1999)
Hollywood Walk of Fame (1960)
American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1997)
Short biography
Kitty Carlisle was born Catherine Conn to a family of German Jewish origin in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her father Joseph Conn, a physician, died when she was 10 years old, and her mother Hortense Holzman Conn then took her to Europe. Kitty traveled with her mother and attended a boarding school in Lausanne, Switzerland; she later studied at the Sorbonne and the London School of Economics. She decided on an acting career when she was accepted by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In 1932, she returned to the USA to study singing with Estelle Liebling in New York City. Under the name Kitty Carlisle, she got work on the radio and appeared in operettas and musical comedies on Broadway. She also broke into the movies, making pictures that included A Night at the Opera (1935) with the Marx Brothers and two films with Bing Crosby. In 1946, she married playwright and theatrical producer Moss Hart, and appeared in number of his works, including The Man Who Came to Dinner. (1949). The couple had two children. Kitty became a household name as a panelist on the television show To Tell the Truth from 1956 to 1978. She also was a semi-regular panelist on other shows such as Password, Match Game, I've Got a Secret, and What's My Line?
She became an avid patron and supporter of the performing arts and a champion of historic preservation. She served as chair of the New York State Council of the Arts for 20 years, beginning in 1976. She resumed her theatrical career in 1966, making her debut with the Metropolitan Opera as Prince Orlofsky in Strauss's Die Fledermaus. She had the title role of Carmen in Salt Lake City. She toured widely with a one-woman show in which she told anecdotes about many great men in American musical theater history she had known, such as George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Kurt Weill, Oscar Hammerstein, Alan Jay Lerner, and Frederick Loewe, interspersed with performing some of their famous songs. She appeared in the films Radio Days (1987) and Six Degrees of Separation (1993), as well as on stage in the 1983 revival of On Your Toes. In 1997, she was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She published Kitty: An Autobiography in 1988.

Members

Reviews

This was a delightful book. When her father passed away when she was 11, her mother took her to Europe in order to get an entrance to "society" and enable her daughter to make a suitable marriage. Even though they were poor, they lived in hotels and she was educated. Her mother wanted her to be a pianist but she eventually studied voice. While she never really was a successful operatic singer, she did have that part in the Marx Brothers A Night at the Opera and later in life did some short stints in opera. She is also well known as one of the judges on To Tell the Truth. The beauty of this book was the people she knew, i.e. George Gershwin and eventually her husband, Moss Hart, playwright/director. The opening nights, the parties, and the people are well described in this book. Married just 15 years due to Hart's untimely death from a heart attack, she had to reinvent herself, which she did successfully, eventually becoming chairperson of the New York Council on the Arts.… (more)
 
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knahs | Feb 26, 2024 |

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Statistics

Works
1
Also by
9
Members
31
Popularity
#440,253
Rating
4.0
Reviews
1
ISBNs
3