Posted on 02/05/2011 4:32:50 PM PST by Borges
Tura Satana, the actress whose authoritative presence, exotic looks and buxom frame commanded the attention of viewers of Russ Meyer’s 1965 cult movie “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!”, died on Friday evening in Reno, Nev.
The death was announced by her longtime manager, Siouxzan Perry, who said the cause of death was believed to be heart failure. Ms. Perry said Ms. Satana was 72 when she died, though other sources listed her birth year as 1935.
Born Tura Luna Pascual Yamaguchi in Hokkaido, Japan, to a father of Japanese and Filipino descent and a mother who was Cheyenne Indian and Scots-Irish, Ms. Satana spent part of her childhood in the Manzanar internment camp near Independence, Calif., before her family settled in Chicago. Her Asian background and looks and the fact that she developed early led to frequent harassment and assaults, and she led an itinerant lifestyle, working as an exotic dancer and nude model. She even posed for erotic photographs taken by Harold Lloyd, the former silent comedian, who suggested she pursue an acting career.
(Excerpt) Read more at artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com ...
Ping
Life vest hottie ping
Faster, Pussycat! Die! Die!
I had the pleasure of working with her a few years ago-she was one cool chick. RIP.
Bunga Bunga!
Remarkable ancestry:
Japanese
Filipino
Cheyenne Indian
Scots
Irish
I must have missed that movie when it came out. Looks like a female Jackie Chan!
Reno is in mourning tonight.
You probably wouldn’t like it. Russ Meyer was a key figure in mainstreaming porn. FPKK is one of the key early films in the 60s counteculture.
RIP.
No. I looked at the Amazon reviews and decided it’s not for me.
And what’s her name from The Last Tango in Paris died recently, as well.
Movie trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgWoPFX1Sz0
THE ASTRO-ZOMBIES with David Carradine might still be available for free viewing at crackle.com, it’s a real hoot.
Tura Satana: The RetroCrush Interview
http://www.retrocrush.com/archive2005/turasatana/
Interview by Randy Waage
randy@retrocrush.com
Tura Satana is one of the sexiest, toughest ass-kickers to ever grace a movie screen. Her role as Varla, the badass tough girl with out-of-this-world cleavage in Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill! (which celebrates it’s 40th Anniversary this year), is forever cemented as one of the greatest bad-girl roles in film history. Had Uma Thurman’s Bride character come across Tura during one of the Kill Bill films, she would have most certainly met her match. We got a chance to ask some hard-hitting questions of this sexy film legend, from her days as a burlesque dancer, to her relationship with Elvis Presley, and she didn’t pull any punches with her answers!
Although I admit it took me 5 minutes to realize there was anything in the photo besides her, ummm, balcony.
“4-Wheel Drive” indeed! A man could get some serious traction there.
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