Goodbye to Kitty Carlisle Hart

Most Americans of a certain age will probably remember her from the old game shows "To Tell the Truth" and "I've Got a Secret." But for classic movie fans, Kitty Carlisle will always be the lovely young singer from "A Night at the Opera," keeping up with the mad, mad Marx Brothers what was arguably their finest film.

She died in Manhattan in April after a short illness and a long, exuberant life. Witty, charming and a famous hostess, she married the great playwright, Moss Hart. Legendary songwriters personally taught her their own songs -- George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Kurt Weill, Cole Porter.

In the '70s, she took on an off-screen role as a fierce advocate for the arts who never shied away from controversy. She remained the doyenne of the Great White Way until her death, performing her own one-woman show, "Life Upon the Wicked Stage".

She was 96, and they dimmed the lights of Broadway in her memory. We should all be so wicked.

Photo courtesy Broadway.com