From her sultry singing voice to her confident displays of sensuality, Eartha Kitt embodied the life of a truly sexually liberated woman in her acting roles like Catwoman in the "Batman" series with Adam West. Kitt Shapiro said of her mother in Closer Weekly, "This was 1967, and there were no women of color at that time wearing skintight bodysuits, playing opposite a white male with sexual tension between them! She knew the importance of the role and she was proud of it."
Off-screen, Kitt famously had several high-profile lovers, according to Marie Claire, among them was the founder of Revlon cosmetics – Charlie Revson, who named a shade of lipstick after her called "Fire and Ice." She also allegedly had an affair with Nat King Cole, who was her co-star in the 1958 film, "St. Louis Blues" (although Kitt claimed it was "sexless"), as per Vanity Fair. While Kitt did not think much of their affair, Cole reportedly sent her dozens of flowers afterward — much to the chagrin of his wife, Maria.
Vanity fair reports in Kitt's memoir, "Confessions of a Sex Kitten," Cole's wife found a thank you letter Kitt wrote him and responded by sending her a scathing letter and cashmere sweater. She also had a fling with singer Harry Belafonte and attracted the affections of movie studio heir, Arthur Loew Jr., (Marie Claire reports that Loew's mother forbade it due to Kitt not being white).
In hindsight, Kitt's subversive sexual persona stood out as culturally significant in an era where several states had outlawed sex between white people and African Americans as Vice reports.
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