Sultry chanteuse Eartha Kitt, who replaced Julie Newmar as Catwoman in the 1960s Batman series, died on Christmas Day at the age of 81.  Kitt, who was born in South Carolina and survived a hardscrabble childhood, got a big break with the Katherine Dunham Dance Company in the 1940s and quickly established herself as a singer who specialized in sexy songs celebrating the sybaritic life of a party girl--coaxing an endless string of favors from sugar daddies in numbers like “Lets Do It,” “Champagne Taste,” “Love for Sale,” “Je Cherche un Homme,” and most famously, “Santa Baby.”

Kitt’s distinctive purring voice made her a natural for the role of Catwoman, and when scheduling problems forced Julie Newmar to drop out of 1960s Batman series, Kitt, who Orson Welles once called “the most exciting woman in the world,” was a natural to take over as Batman’s feline female nemesis.

Kitt was fluent in four languages and performed songs in seven.  In 1968 she confronted Lady Bird Johnson at the White House and delivered a sharp rebuke aimed at President Johnson’s escalation of the Vietnam War. The widely reported incident left the first lady in tears and damaged Kitt’s career in the U.S., forcing her to perform overseas for years where she honed her self-taught linguistic skills.  Kitt’s sexy vocal stylings have had a profound effect on singers as disparate as Diana Ross of The Supremes and Madonna.