Tura Satana, 1935-2011

In his 1981 book Shock Value, John Waters wrote:

After nearly twenty years of being the top fan of Faster, Pussycat, I tried to locate the star, Tura Satana, to find out what her life is like today and how she felt about being involved in such a masterpiece. I finally got her telephone number in Los Angeles and decided to give her a call. A little girl answered the phone and when I asked for Tura, I was startled to hear the child say "Hold on," and yell "Mommy!" After so many years of fantasizing about the real life of the meanest pussycat of all, it was a shock to realize that Tura Satana was, after all, just an actress. Our interview was short but sweet.

Tura explained that today she is working as a nurse and runs a doctor's office. Noticing my surprise at her career switch, she laughed and added, "My patients don't give me any trouble though." She claims that Tura Satana is her real name, and I try to imagine the buxom beauty in a nurse's outfit with a little badge saying "Nurse Satana." She used to be a popular burlesque star and reminisces, "It kept me in good shape." She got the part in Pussycat because her agent suggested her to Russ, feeling she was "right for the part," with the added attraction of "knowing karate." Tura has never seen any of Russ's films except "the one I'm in" and shrugs that the film "neither helped nor hurt my career." She was also in Irma La Douce, Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed, Astro Zombies, and The Doll Squad.

Tura seems to have fond memories of Pussycat and its two other cinematic sisters in crime, but didn't seem to care for the actress who played her victim. "She was a typical Hollywood brat. She was never in time for anything. I'd get so mad at her that I'd turn away and smash a railroad tie with a karate chop." Her leading man evoked even harsher memories—"Ha! Those love scenes were real acting. The guy was a health-food nut and had bad breath!"

Miss Satana's opinion of cult stardom might give pause to any aspiring actress of today—"When the film came out, everybody who saw it wanted to punch me. I got a lot of letters from guys who wanted me to beat the crap out of them."

Soon after Waters' book (which, incidentally, I consider a masterpiece of American humor on a par with the work of Twain, Perelman, those kinds of guys) was published, The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film and Re/Search's Incredibly Strange Films compilation saw print. A new aesthetic of cult film came into being, and soon, characterizing a film such as Faster, Pussycat, Kill! Kill! as a "masterpiece" did not seem quite so provocative, or perverse, a pronouncement...or act...or gesture. The subsequent rise of fan conventions and such plucked Satana out of the relatively contented obscurity where Waters had re-discovered her, and she became a beloved fixture in that world. I think I met her at at least one such wingding, and recall her being as nice as pie.

Anyway, like the man said, it's a strange world. And it will miss Tura Satana.

The image at top is from the aforementioned Irma La Douce, with Jack Lemmon. Because even though I can't imagine anyone's sick of seeing shots from Faster, Pussycat, I still have to do something different.

UPDATE: My old friend Joseph Failla has more detailed memories of meetings with Ms. Satana: "

"Of the three FASTER PUSSYCAT girls I had the pleasure to meet, Lori Williams was the most business like, Haji the most exotic and Tura was....well, the most all-around fun. Not shy in any way, her personality was bigger than life, humorous and actually quite warm. Maybe it was because I originally got a personal introduction to her at a fan show from her friend and ASTRO ZOMBIES director Ted V. Mikels, but the number of times I was lucky enough to see her there, she always greeted me with a kindly smile and a firm handshake (what a grip!). Considering her raucous reputation, I was happily surprised at the generous affection she extended to me. So it didn't take long for her to become one of my all time favorite acquaintances on the convention circuit. The big question I had was why Tura had not been used more often in action and psychotronic type films? I mean if the genre ever needed a symbol to identify itself with, certainly Tura was it. She combined all the necessary elements into one impressive figure—strikingly gorgeous and deadly in a way other starlets just pretend to be. I think we all can regret she didn't work with Russ Meyer regularly, as that partnership truly was inspired, and the Varla persona obviously could have yielded more appetizing adventures (is there any other Meyer film that cries out for a follow up more?). In his own unique way, Meyer lovingly (though some might say harshly) presents Tura in the best "star is born" tradition. Dietrich may have been photographed as untouchable, but Tura was filmed as "approach at your own risk!" She gives that film its heart and ferocity, starkly shot in black and white wearing dark leather against bright desert backgrounds, she cuts an indelible film figure one can not easily resist or forget. I tried to communicate all this to her during our meetings, but it probably wasn't necessary at all, as the lines to greet her were lengthy (just the sight of all those Varla impersonators was something in itself!), and you could tell she was well aware of her true legendary standing."

Comments

[Paul Duane]

I have an original of this in a box somewhere - Dean Martin ogles Tura Satana in a pop-cultural collision of some magnitude. Rest in Peace, Varla.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pZ29ZOXcK3Q/TBKRHDPt6VI/AAAAAAAACAo/W8b7OBMDlGY/s1600/Tura-Who%27sBeenSleepingInMyBed.jpg

[jbryant]

How's this for an obscure celebrity connection? -- My girlfriend's former foster father is Tura Satana's nephew. I never met her, but got to see some home videos of her visiting the family at Christmas and Halloween over the years. Caught a glimpse of her once at the Sherman Oaks Galleria.

[Jette]

Thanks -- I always wondered where Tura Satana was in "Irma La Douce" but not enough to watch the movie again. I love Wilder but for some reason I found that movie irritating and disappointing rather than charming; I think "Kiss Me, Stupid" has actually held up better over time.

You've also reminded me that I don't have a copy of "Shock Value" anymore and really should try to track one down.