Kitty Carlisle
| Kitty Carlisle | |
|---|---|
Photograph by Carl Van Vechten (1933)
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|
| Born |
Catherine Conn September 3, 1910 New Orleans, Louisiana, US |
| Died | April 17, 2007 (aged 96) Manhattan, New York City, US |
| Cause of death | Congestive heart failure |
| Resting place | Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Kitty Carlisle Hart |
| Education | Chateau Mont-Choisi |
| Alma mater |
University of Paris London School of Economics Royal Academy of Dramatic Art |
| Occupation | Actress, singer, spokeswoman |
| Years active | 1932–2006 |
| Spouse(s) | Moss Hart (1946-1961, his death) |
| Children | 2 |
Kitty Carlisle (also known as Kitty Carlisle Hart; September 3, 1910 – April 17, 2007) was an American singer, actress and spokeswoman for the arts. She is best remembered as a regular panelist on the television game show To Tell the Truth. Carlisle served 20 years on the New York State Council on the Arts. In 1991, she received the National Medal of Arts from President George H. W. Bush. Eight years later, in 1999, she was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
Kitty Carlisle was born as Catherine Conn (Kitty is a nickname for Catherine; the surname was pronounced Cohen) in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her family was of German Jewish heritage. Her grandfather, Ben Holtzman, was the mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana. A Confederate veteran of the American Civil War, Holtzman had been a gunner on the CSS Virginia, perhaps better known by its previous Union name of USS Merrimack, the famous Confederate ironclad warship that fought the USS Monitor. Carlisle's father, Dr. Joseph Conn, was a gynecologist who died when his daughter was 10 years old. Her mother, Hortense Holtzman Conn, was a woman obsessed with breaking into the prevailing Gentile society (She once reportedly told a taxi driver who asked if her daughter was Jewish, "She may be, but I'm not").
Carlisle's early education took place in New Orleans. In 1921, she was taken to Europe, where her mother hoped to marry her off to European royalty, believing the nobility there more amenable to a Jewish bride – only to end up flitting around Europe and often living in what Carlisle recalled as "the worst room of the best hotel." Carlisle was educated at the Chateau Mont-Choisi in Lausanne, Switzerland, then at the Sorbonne and the London School of Economics. She studied acting in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
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