Kitty Carlisle Hart - Archive Interview Part 1 of 2

In her 2-part oral history interview done in conjunction with New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT), Kitty Carlisle Hart (1910-2007) talks about her early musical training in violin and piano. She reminisces about some of her appearances in movies in the 1930s, including working with Bing Crosby and her insistence on using her own singing voice in the Marx Brothers vehicle, "A Night at the Opera." She speaks fondly of her years as a regular panelist on the long-running game show "To Tell the Truth" and talks about other television appearances and later films including Woody Allen's "Radio Days". She also speaks about her late husband, playwright Moss Hart, who she says was the love of her life and "made a party by just stepping in the room."

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Entertainment

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• nywift
• aat
• interview
• kitty
• carlisle
• emmy
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• legends
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• history

[mthivier]

Kitty Carlisle and Arline Francis ("What's My Line") were the original game show panel divas! Sad that neither of them are with us any longer.

[lasuvidaboy]

What a delightful lady.

[ColumbiaPerna]

@cheeriosinabowl -- she wasn't at all snobby or snooty -- she was just a product of a strange social climbing mother -- she was a girl from the old school of America's Southern Jews -- kind of like the way its portrayed in Driving Miss Daisy -- -- she was a lovely person and there was not an ounce of pretentiousness to her. She was a genuine person -- not a snob at all.

[cheeriosinabowl]

I liked Kitty, she was a hoot.

But I found her a little too upper class, a tad snobby.

[tsar1913]

I've always thought Kitty Carlisle was a classy lady, but I don't think her comments about Arlene Francis are quite fair. To say Arlene was always getting in trouble and she had to bail her out isn't really how the two stories she mentioned went down.

[ashcarl116]

@mthivier are you mad? they both lived to their 90s, if they lived longer they would've been over 100. does still living over 100 not mean much to you?

[ashcarl116]

mthivier are you mad? they both lived to their 90s, if they lived longer they would've been over 100. does still living, over 100 not mean much to you?

[delightfulstar]

Kitty was such a charming, classy lady - and what a beautiful voice she had. She is so missed!

[Mktryk]

Interesting how on 'To Tell the Truth',etc. Miss Carlisle had a far more regal accent- almost British-sounding- yet at the end of her life, she sounded as though she'd been born + bred in the Bronx -despite her New Orleans birth and European education. Still, she must have been quite a fascinating person to know!

[52Sterling]

What this interviewer skipped over was her exceptional recording career. At Decca she recorded cast albums of "The Merry Widow", "The Desert Song", "Roberta" and "Song of Norway". She must have been very pleased to hear them in perfect fidelity and in their complete versions. Would have made wonderful gifts for her children, fans and friends. She also recorded many singles for Decca.

[ideheights]

She's more articulate at 94 than most people are at 34! If only there were more people still around who were truly raconteuses!