Perhaps best known for playing district attorney Trish Murtaugh on Fox’s “Lethal Weapon,” Keesha Sharp is stepping into Catwoman’s shoes for a new project. The actress has snagged the rights to John Williams’ 2013 biography “America’s Mistress: The Life and Times of Eartha Kitt,” Deadline reports. Kitt famously played Catwoman on ABC’s “Batman” TV series in the ’60s. Also a singer, her hits included “C’est si bon“ and “Santa, Baby.”
Sharp is developing, producing, and starring in the adaptation of the book, which will take the form of a feature.
Kitt, who died in 2008, was a two-time Daytime Emmy winner. “Boomerang” and “Harriet the Spy” were among her film credits. “Kitt’s career took a temporary detour in the late 1960s and early 1970s after she made anti-Vietnam War statements, which led to her being effectively blacklisted. She made a comeback with her performance in the 1978 production of the Broadway musical ‘Timbuktu!,’ earning two Tony nominations,” the source notes.
“Eartha Kitt was a force in the entertainment industry and an icon who opened doors for so many women, especially women of color during a time when it was not popular in America,” said Sharp, who is collaborating on the project with her husband, Brad Sharp. “Although I may have been compared to her in the past, I am passionate about bringing her story to life because everyone needs to know how incredible she was!”
Sharp continued, “People don’t mention her in the same conversation with the icons of Hollywood, but she belongs there. The biggest star at the time, Orson Welles, called her ‘the most exciting woman in the world’ for good reason. Her life was full of complexity, pain, and triumph, and I am thrilled to take on the challenge.”
With acting credits that include “Marshall,” “American Crime Story,” and “Girlfriends,” Sharp is also a director: she’s helmed an episode of “Lethal Weapon” among other projects, including shorts that she wrote.