Kitty Carlisle Hart wore a cloak of many professional and elegant
colors. Actress, opera singer, Broadway performer, TV celebrity, game
show panelist, patron of the arts, and, at age 95, this vital woman
continued her six-decade musical odyssey with songs and reminisces in
her one-woman show: "Kitty Carlisle Hart: An American Icon," which
toured from her beloved New York to Los Angeles. She developed
pneumonia soon after her tour folded toward the end of 2006 and passed
away of congestive heart failure in April of 2007.
Kitty Carlisle Hart was born Catherine Conn (pronounced "Cohen") on September 3, 1910 in New Orleans, Louisiana, to a family of German
Jewish ancestry. Her father, Dr. Joseph Conn, was a gynecologist who
died when she was only ten. Her very ambitious mother, Hortense (Holzman), escorted Kitty to Europe in 1921 with the intentions of marrying her
off, Grace Kelly-style, into European
royalty. When that plan didn't pan out, they stayed in Europe where
Kitty received her adult education in Switzerland, London, Paris and
Rome. She finally zeroed in on her acting career after being accepted
into London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and also went on to train
at the Theatre de l'Atelier in Paris.
She and her mother eventually returned to New York in 1932 wherein she
first apprenticed with the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope,
Pennsylvania. She attracted notice quite early in her career. Billed as
Kitty Carlisle, she found radio work and made her first appearance on
the musical stage in the title role of "Rio Rita." The
legitimately-trained singer went on to appear in a number of operettas,
including 1933's "Champagne Sec" (as Prince Orlofsky), as well as the
musical comedies "White Horse Inn" (1936) and "Three Waltzes" (1937).
Her early ingénue movie career included warbling in the musical mystery
Murder at the Vanities (1934),
and alongside Allan Jones amidst the
zany goings-on of the Marx Brothers in the classic farce
Skandal in der Oper (1935).
She also played a love interest to
Bing Crosby's in two of his lesser known
musical outings
Here Is My Heart (1934) and
She Loves Me Not (1934).
Films were not her strong suit, however, and she returned to her
theatre roots. Appearing in her first dramatic productions "French
Without Tears" and "The Night of January 16th" in 1938, she went on to
grace a number of chic and stylish plays and musicals throughout the
40s, including "Walk with Music (1940), "The Merry Widow" (1943,
"Design for Living (1943) and "There's Always Juliet" (1944). She
subsequently performed in
Benjamin Britten's 1948 American
premiere of "The Rape of Lucretia." In 1946, she married Pulitzer
Prize-winning playwright Moss Hart and
appeared in a number of his works including his classic "The Man Who
Came to Dinner" (1949) and the witty Broadway comedy "Anniversary
Waltz" (1954). The couple had two children. He died in 1961 and she
never remarried, spending much of her existing time keeping his name
alive to future generations.
It was the small screen that would make Kitty a welcome household
commodity. The steadfast panelist of several quiz shows in the 1950s,
it was the popular game show
To Tell the Truth (1956)
that anointed her game show doyenne and icon. A regular panelist for
some 20 years, she appeared on each and every revamped format from its
1956 inception to its 2002 syndicated version. Known for her stately
presence, infectious laugh, pouffy dark Prince Valiant hairstyle, and
sweeping couture gowns on the show, audiences reveled at her effortless
class to these simple parlor games. She also was a substitute panelist
for other popular game shows such as "What's My Line?" and "I've Got a
Secret."
In later years, she became an important society maven of New York City,
an avid patron and zealous supporter of the performing arts. Appointed
to various state-wide councils, she was chairman of the New York State
Council of the Arts in 1976 and served in that capacity for 20 years,
also serving on the boards of various New York City cultural
institutions. A noted lecturer, the civic-minded Carlisle Hart was
active in administrative capacities as well, notably as Chairman of
Governor Rockefeller's Conference on Woman (1966) and as special
consultant to the Governor on women's opportunities. At one time she
wrote the column "Kitty's Calendar" for Women's Unit News.
Kitty never stopped entertaining. Making her Metropolitan debut on New
Year's Eve 1966 as Prince Orlovsky in "Die Fledermaus," she joined the
touring production the following year. She appeared in concert with the
Philadelphia Orchestra and appeared with the Boston Opera Company at
one point. She added stature to a number of summer stock plays
including "Kiss Me Kate," "The Marriage-Go-Round" and her husband's
"Light Up the Sky." Returning to Broadway as a replacement for
Dina Merrill in the 1983 revival of "On
Your Toes," she was later spotted in
Woody Allen's
Radio Days (1987) and
Das Leben - Ein Sechserpack (1993).
Carlisle penned her autobiography, Kitty, in 1988. In the millennium, she appeared in a number of documentary films and TV movies. She died on April 17, 2007, at age 96, in Manhattan.
