Remembering Kitty Carlisle Hart…
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Kitty Carlisle Hart, the legendary star of Broadway, film, and television has passed away at the age of 96. After developing pneumonia during the Christmas holidays while on tour in her autobiographical show Here’s To Life, Kitty died peacefully at home in her Manhattan apartment. She is survived by her son Christopher, daughter Catherine, and three grandchildren, and was preceded in death by her husband, Moss Hart, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, in 1961. Born Catherine Conn in New Orleans in 1910, Ms Carlisle studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, the London School of Economics, and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
For many of us, she was a familiar face both on the stage and on the screen. Her early movie credits include She Loves Me Not and Here’s My Heart with Bing Crosby in 1934; as Rosa Castaldi in the comedy, A Night at the Opera, with the Marx Brothers in 1935; Radio Days with Woody Allen, and a cameo appearance in Six Degrees of Separation in 1993. She is also remembered for singing Cocktails for Two in the 1934 film Murder at the Vanities, and for her roles in several Broadway musical productions including Champagne Sec and On Your Toes. Kitty appeared in the TV quiz shows I’ve Got a Secret in the 1950’s and in What’s My Line in the 60’s, but she is perhaps best remembered as a celebrity panelist on the popular game show To Tell The Truth from 1956 to 1967. In 1967 Kitty made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Die Fiedermaus, and again as the star in Benjamin Britten’s Rape of Lucretia.
Mrs. Hart lived a full, active life, beginning each day with an exercise routine that would have been a challenge for anyone at any age. She also served 20 years on the New York State Council of the Arts, moderated the TV series Women on the Move, and received the National Medal of Arts from the President, the first George W. Bush in 1991. Intelligent, confident, and sophisticated, Kitty was a respected honorary trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and a frequent visitor to the theater.
As the lights on Broadway dim for a wonderful lady, a philanthropist, and true patron of the arts, we pause to remember, respect, and admire Kitty Carlisle Hart.
