Eartha Kitt Just Keeps On Going

Long Walks And A Varied Diet Keep Her Going

(CBS)  With her legendary purr and her unforgettable legs, Eartha Kitt has charmed audiences for more than 50 years. At the age of 74, Kitt is still performing. She continues to tour the country in her own cabaret show, and last year performed eight times a week in the Broadway musical, "The Wild Party."

How does she do it? Harold Dow recently spent time with her to find out.

"When I feel I'm getting tired, I will go do some exercises sometimes," Kitt says. "Because the exercise...energizes me." She sometimes runs in the woods near her house in rural Westchester County, outside New York City.

Divorced many years ago, Kitt lives alone. She comes home to recharge and leave the glamour and makeup behind. She takes walks every morning and often in the evening. She also stretches a lot.

How does she stay so limber? Kitt says that one key is starting young. "I can't run as fast as I used to, but I can certainly do I would say 87 percent of the things that I was doing," she says.

Kitt also eats well and enjoys cooking her favorite meals for her daughter and two grandchildren. She eats a wide variety of foods, including meat. "I eat everything," she says. "I just watch the amount."

By eating carefully, she says, she is able to stay slim.

The key to her good health may be that she enjoys her work and her life. "I'm extremely happy and extremely fortunate because I happen to be doing something that I absolutely adore and love and feel happy about myself being able to still do it," she says.

"As long as that audience gives me the type of applause that they gave me tonight, why shouldn't I go on?" she asked after a recent performance. "I've always said only the young get tired. Us older folks, we don't have time to get tired. So we kick up as much as we can for as long as we can."

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