"So in those days, they were scooping up any young person who could sing and look decent at the same time." - Kitty Carlisle

A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' American Legends series, listeners can get caught up to speed on the lives of America's most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known.

Kitty Carlisle surely stands as one of the most recognizable figures of the 20th century, but unlike major actors, actresses, and other artistic luminaries, however, Carlisle was not decorated so much for any specific performances. Instead, she came to embody the very face of art in the United States. To be sure, Carlisle maintained a successful singing and acting career, appearing in movies, television programs, quiz shows, and concerts (she continued to perform until the year before her death), but more than anything, Carlisle was a public intellectual, socialite, and supporter of the arts. Her reputation would further crystallize in 1976 after she was approached by Nelson Rockefeller to serve as the chair for the New York Council for the Arts. In other words, more than promoting her own career, Carlisle was invested in making sure that the arts were well-supported in American culture.

With a career that spanned from her 20s well into her 90s, Kitty Carlisle remained in the public sphere for over 70 years, but there is still much about her life that people are not aware of, especially when it comes to her youth, family background, and education.