Kitty Carlisle Hart Dies at 96

[Brian Sheridan]

Actress Kitty Carlisle Hart Dies at 96

By ULA ILNYTZKY

NEW YORK (AP) - 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.

Christopher Hart said his mother had been in and out of the hospital since contracting pneumonia over the Christmas holidays.

"She passed away peacefully" at home, said Hart. "She had such a wonderful life, and a great long run, it was a blessing."

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 Cullen and Don Ameche. The show featured three contestants, all claiming to be the same person. The panelists asked them questions to determine which was telling the truth. (The popular show also had runs, sometimes including Carlisle, in daytime and in syndicated versions.)

Hart's late husband was the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Moss Hart, who wrote "You Can't Take It With You" and "The Man Who Came to Dinner" with George S. Kaufman and won a Tony for directing "My Fair Lady" on Broadway.

 

[Rafter]

This gotta be deja-vu. Kitty Carlisle was one of the last great legends that was still alive and older than my dear grandmother (2 years older).

And they even looked alike....dressed with style and sophistication, had perfectly coifed black hair, and understated but tasteful make-up.

OK so I'm a dude and don't normally talk about these things, but we're talking 'bout my grandmother, and I have a point to all of this.

Two years ago my family took my grandmother to see Kitty Carlisle perform
in concert. Yup, she still was making appearances. A real trooper.

Now the point to all of this....I lost my grandmother two weeks ago.
Very unexpectedly and devastating.

She was a beauty and a real class act just like Ms. Carlise. RIP

 

[Amy Jeanne]

So, so sad.
But she lived a great, full, looooong, happy life. May she RIP.

 

[Rafter]

So, so sad.
But she lived a great, full, looooong, happy life. May she RIP.

Everyone has been saying the same thing about my grandmother.
She did live a great, full, long and happy life...
with dignity and respect.
Both Kitty Carlisle and my grandmother shared something else....

the not so dude-like term, elegance

along with charm and intelligence.

That's a rare combination of
qualities that you just don't see nowadays.

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

Too bad. Someone I sort of knew of saw her sing in New York City just this past year. Must have been nice.

 

[Liz]

I am so sorry to hear this. I still remember when I was around six or seven years old and I watched A Night at the Opera with my father (a huge Marx Brothers fan); I thought that Kitty Carlisle was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. RIP.

 

[HadleyH]

Another chapter of the Golden Age closed.
Kitty Carlisle was married to Moss Hart the brilliant playwright and director who died in 1961 and who gave us such classic comedies as "You Can't Take It With You" among so many others...
Good bye Kitty

 

[Benny Holiday]

My deepest condolences, Rafter. It's sad to see Kitty pass on, but we didn't know her in person; but your grandmother was a special part of your life. Seems there's a lot of her in you; your grandmother helped nuture in you an appreciation of elegance, beauty, and charm, a rare combination of qualities for a lady in any era to possess. The dear Lady may be resting now, but so much of her is alive in your heart and your memories and, I'd say, a lot of your ideals, outlook and even mannerisms.

I wish there were more people like both these ladies gracing the world today.

 

[Hondo]

I recall as a kid watching "To Tell the Truth" Kitty Carlisle was always a class act, graceful, witty, gone from another era, truly sad, R.I.P.

 

[Rafter]

My deepest condolences, Rafter. It's sad to see Kitty pass on, but we didn't know her in person; but your grandmother was a special part of your life. Seems there's a lot of her in you; your grandmother helped nuture in you an appreciation of elegance, beauty, and charm, a rare combination of qualities for a lady in any era to possess.

Thanks for the sentiments, Benny.:cheers1:

 

[rockyj]

So sorry to hear.

What a grand old lady Sad to hear the news of her passing[huh]