KITTY CARLISE HART 4/18/07 IN MEMORY 96 YEARS OLD

Kitty Carlisle Hart, whose long career spanned Broadway, opera, television and film, including the classic Marx Brothers movie "A Night at the Opera," has died at age 96, her son said Wednesday.

Hart had appeared for years on the popular game show "To Tell the Truth" as a celebrity panelist. The entertainer was also a tireless advocate for the arts, serving 20 years on the New York State Council on the Arts. In 1991, she received the National Medal of Arts from the first President Bush.

Well known for her starring role as Rosa Castaldi in the 1935 movie "A Night at the Opera," her other film credits included: "She Loves Me Not" and "Here Is My Heart," both opposite Bing Crosby; Woody Allen's "Radio Days"; and "Six Degrees of Separation."

She began her acting career on Broadway in "Champagne Sec," and went on to appear in many other Broadway productions, including the 1984 revival of "On Your Toes."She made her operatic debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1967 in "Die Fledermaus," and created the role of Lucretia in the American premiere of Benjamin Britten's "Rape of Lucretia."
From 1956 to 1967, she appeared on the CBS prime-time game show "To Tell the Truth" with host Bud Collyer and fellow panelists such as Polly Bergen, Johnny Carson, Bill Cullin. Carlisle's film career began in 1934; in "Murder at the Vanities," she sings "Cocktails for Two," a song later made famous in a spoof version by Spike Jones.

"A Night at the Opera" the following year was the Marx Brothers' sixth film and their first for MGM, where they shifted after their career at Paramount sagged at the box office. MGM's Irving Thalberg added more romance to the Marxes' formula, bringing in Carlisle and Allan Jones to play the young opera singers in love, and the film became a huge hit.

Elegant and sophisticated then, and now - with hair, makeup and dress perfectly in place - Hart has been called a "great dame." Hart was born in New Orleans on Sept. 3, 1910. She attended the Sorbonne, the London School of Economics and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

She and Hart married in 1946 and had a daughter, Catherine, in 1950. He died in 1961 at age 57. In later years, she lived on the next block from Kaufman's daughter, Anne Kaufman Schneider, and the two would confer when a revival of a Kaufman-Hart play was in the offing. In a 2002 Associated Press interview, Schneider called her "my best friend." She served on the state arts council from 1971 to 1996, including 20 years as its chairwoman. In 1988, she testified in Albany to a legislative committee amid complaints that the council had funded gay-oriented projects.

"We fund art," she said. "We are neutral as far as anyone else is concerned. We don't fund anyone's point of view."Hart's special concern for women's role in society led to her appointment as chairwoman She was once asked which she loved more - the movies or television.

"I think television had more of an influence on my life than the movies because with television you came into somebody's home," Hart replied. "People remember me from television. They don't even remember me from 'A Night at the Opera.' They have no idea that I played the lead and did all the singing. But they do remember television, particularly 'To Tell the Truth."

Besides Christopher Hart, 59, a director, writer and producer, survivors include her daughter, Dr. Catherine Hart, and three grandchildren

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[Gingrsnap43]

@kayshkorn Yeah, right. It was Bush, as I recall, who once referred to the U.S. Constitution as a "goddamn piece of paper". Real class.

[4262009AP]

September 3, 2010

She would've been 100 today! Happy birthday Kitty, rest in peace!

[catholicpriest1]

Thanks for posting this!

[kayshkorn]

This was back when people had class and respect for their country. Not like the sack of shit ACLU rats that have turned the USA into a country any of these stars would have left for Europe. The problem with the USA is not George Bush, it's the people who have NO CLASS!!!!!!!!! The woman says, God bless you at the end." Imagine if you tried to say that today -- UGH!!!!!!!!!

[knifecut]

does anyone have any footage of any of her last performances before she died? i know she made an appearance in NY singing at around age 96. i missed the show, but would love to see it if anyone has a recording.......j

[nikitabijoux]

There is a designer in Provincetown, MA by the name of Coffey who is selling shirts that has her sage on how to be happy. She apparently looks in the mirror everynight and says, Kitty, I forgive You." But when you look at the words, it's backwards...you can only read it while looking at yourself in the mirror! I bought it and is my most treasured shirt from Ptown! I highly recommend you get one as well!!!

[rockgor]

I read her autobiography years ago. She said her mother told her, "With your voice, you'd better marry a rich man." And she did.

I have some operettas and B-shows she recorded in the 40s. Did you know she recorded the song "Lonely Feet" by Jerome kern?

A nice summary of her career. Thanks for posting.

[dejahthoris]

Stars these days have no class. What a doll she was!

[spankatore]

Great to see (and hear) this wonderful star. Thanks for posting!