Few women have done sexually charged works that made an impression on both men and womens psyches. Tura Satanas look and work, especially in Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, is right up there with Bettie Page, Dixie Evans and Brigitte Bardot. Satana is a woman that took all the shit shes gone through in life and dumped that anger right into Faster, Pussycat. Since that time she hasnt acted very much but she is easily recognizable, hence why she has a comic book and a line of memorabilia plastered with her face.
Check out the official website for Tura Satana
Daniel Robert Epstein: Back when you did Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, did you see the film as representing any kind of female empowerment?
Tura Satana: Not really, I saw that it was a part that gave me the opportunity to get rid of a lot of anger [laughs].
DRE: [laughs] But obviously thats something thats been taken from the film over the years, have you come to understand that aspect of it?
TS: I knew that aspect back then but we were trying to show that women could be feminine and still be strong and powerful and take care of themselves. That they didnt need a man around to do everything for them. Female empowerment wasnt even thought of back then, just a little equality. That was the only reason I agreed to do it. It was something that helped me show the world that women were not weak little pansies that needed to be protected all the time. That were capable of doing our own thing.
DRE: How did the part come to you in the first place?
TS: My agent asked me if I wanted to do an interview for Russ Meyers and I said, Well, you told him that I dont do porn. He said, Yes. Its not that kind of a part. Theres no nudity in the movie. Which that was not really true, there was a little nudity in there [laughs].
DRE: You have such a unique look, what kind of parts were you going for?
TS: For somebody who was built like I was there werent that many parts around. If I went for a casting call nine times out of ten they were either looking at my chest or looking at my face but never the two together [laughs].
DRE: [laughs] Did Russ do that too?
TS: No, actually he just looked at my chest and said, Oh youll do great. [laughs]
DRE: [laughs] Since then have you met a lot of women who have used the film for feminist ideals?
TS: Oh yes. A lot of women fans have written me and told me how much the part that I did in Faster, Pussycat helped them get better lives for themselves. They were proud to be able to be female, feminine and kick a little ass too.
DRE: [laughs] Im from a generation that wasnt around when Faster, Pussycat came out, was this kind of role and movie very unusual?
TS: Yes it was. There were no parts before with a female who was strong enough to carry out what they wanted to have done or what Russ wanted to have done. When I first went in for the job, he had me read some parts and I asked him, Do you want it played soft or do you want it played with power? He said, Well, give me a rendition of each. So I gave him a rendition of each and he said, The power definitely does it.
DRE: [laughs] You mentioned that you had some anger.
TS: It was basically stuff from when I was a kid and when I was growing up. Mostly that was a lot of the anger I had inside of me and Russ said, Just bring your own personality to it. Afterwards he didnt think anybody else could have ever played Varla the way I did.
DRE: [laughs] I hope not.
Was the role cathartic for you?
TS: I felt like there was still some unfinished business there but one thing about that part was that it did limit what I could do afterwards. There were not too many people who were willing to give me other parts because they didnt think I could be soft enough. I wound up losing a lot of parts because of that film.
DRE: Such as?
TS: Like Modesty Blaise. They thought I was not feminine enough. Then there were some parts for the Matt Helm series. They thought I was too strong to play opposite Dean [Martin] even though I had played opposite Dean in a couple other films. Even though I wound up losing parts Im still happy about doing the film because I feel that it accomplished a lot for women.
DRE: I know you had some very rough times when you were younger but would it be difficult for you to say that you regret them because they were a big part of what made you what you are?
TS: Yes, there were a lot of the things that helped mold me to the way that I am. I was raped when I was almost ten years old by five guys. The helplessness and anger that comes along with that is something that takes a lot out of you. But I think it also helped make me who I am because after that I could have become a devout man-hater or I could have become a sex maniac. I think I fell in between the two.
DRE: How was the rape handled legally back then?
TS: First of all you got to realize that I am oriental and this was just a few years after the war was over. It felt like there was no crime committed against me. The oldest boys father paid the judge a thousand dollars and I went to reform school.
DRE: Its so hard for someone like me to comprehend that but it seems that youre doing so amazingly well now.
TS: Luckily my father and my brother helped me through it. It helped me put things in categories so I was a lot better off than most people who went through something like that.
DRE: Were there a lot of strong women like yourself either in Hollywood or in general?
TS: No. Back then most gals were taught that we were supposed to marry, get pregnant, have babies, take care of the man and take care of the house. There was nothing that told you that you could be strong and independent. Back then there were love children all over the place and everything had to do with loving the world and loving everything else. So being strong was not a positive asset.
DRE: Your look and your character from back then has also become a strong gay icon. When did you first start to notice that?
TS: I didnt notice that many lesbians until recently. Mostly it was the gay guys.
DRE: Why do you think that happened?
TS: I think they loved it because of the fact that I was feminine but I was not in competition with them for their partners. They were able to take their partners to go see a film and enjoy it without being worried about their partners saying, Oh God, Id really like to stick it to that one [laughs].
DRE: [laughs] What is your comic book about?
TS: Its basically a continuation from the end of Faster Pussycat. I turn out to be a good guy afterwards and I get rid of all the bad guys. I start kicking ass that way.
DRE: Quentin Tarantino said that hed give up five years of his life to work with you. Have you guys gotten in contact with one another?
TS: No we havent but Im not that hard to find. He can find me any time he wants. I would love to work with him. I would love to work with John Waters. These are people that I admire and enjoy, but I think Im a little past their era now.
DRE: Do you still want to act?
TS: Ive got two pictures that Im going to do very shortly. One is supposedly a semi-documentary on my life plus the times that I had with Russ out in the desert. Russ and I stayed friends until the day he died. I never did another film with him but he always kept saying that he wanted us to but that he felt he didnt have anything that he thought would be good enough for me [laughs]. I said, Yeah, you probably dont. because he got a little heavier into porn afterwards.
DRE: I read that you are also writing an autobiography.
TS: Yeah I worked on it for about eight years. I could probably go into a lot more details than I did but there were a couple times where I just didnt feel like writing anything [laughs]. Its hard to put a finish to a book when youre still alive. [laughs]
DRE: What made you want to write it?
TS: Thousands of my fans have said, God, we have to hear your story. So I figured Id finally sit down and write my whole story just so theyd know whats going on.
DRE: You said before you werent interested in doing nudity for Russ. Was that because you were very into being an actress or were you against things like that?
TS: The only nudity I ever did was for Harold Lloyd. That was the only time I ever posed in the nude. I didnt like posing in the nude. Theres a mystery about a woman if she had just a drape over her. On my website you can see some pictures that are very close to being nude, but Im still not [laughs]. I have pictures of when I was an exotic dancer on there and pictures when I was about 14 years old. I probably could put all the pictures from Harold Lloyds collection of me on there but I havent gotten around to that.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Check out the official website for Tura Satana
Daniel Robert Epstein: Back when you did Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, did you see the film as representing any kind of female empowerment?
Tura Satana: Not really, I saw that it was a part that gave me the opportunity to get rid of a lot of anger [laughs].
DRE: [laughs] But obviously thats something thats been taken from the film over the years, have you come to understand that aspect of it?
TS: I knew that aspect back then but we were trying to show that women could be feminine and still be strong and powerful and take care of themselves. That they didnt need a man around to do everything for them. Female empowerment wasnt even thought of back then, just a little equality. That was the only reason I agreed to do it. It was something that helped me show the world that women were not weak little pansies that needed to be protected all the time. That were capable of doing our own thing.
DRE: How did the part come to you in the first place?
TS: My agent asked me if I wanted to do an interview for Russ Meyers and I said, Well, you told him that I dont do porn. He said, Yes. Its not that kind of a part. Theres no nudity in the movie. Which that was not really true, there was a little nudity in there [laughs].
DRE: You have such a unique look, what kind of parts were you going for?
TS: For somebody who was built like I was there werent that many parts around. If I went for a casting call nine times out of ten they were either looking at my chest or looking at my face but never the two together [laughs].
DRE: [laughs] Did Russ do that too?
TS: No, actually he just looked at my chest and said, Oh youll do great. [laughs]
DRE: [laughs] Since then have you met a lot of women who have used the film for feminist ideals?
TS: Oh yes. A lot of women fans have written me and told me how much the part that I did in Faster, Pussycat helped them get better lives for themselves. They were proud to be able to be female, feminine and kick a little ass too.
DRE: [laughs] Im from a generation that wasnt around when Faster, Pussycat came out, was this kind of role and movie very unusual?
TS: Yes it was. There were no parts before with a female who was strong enough to carry out what they wanted to have done or what Russ wanted to have done. When I first went in for the job, he had me read some parts and I asked him, Do you want it played soft or do you want it played with power? He said, Well, give me a rendition of each. So I gave him a rendition of each and he said, The power definitely does it.
DRE: [laughs] You mentioned that you had some anger.
TS: It was basically stuff from when I was a kid and when I was growing up. Mostly that was a lot of the anger I had inside of me and Russ said, Just bring your own personality to it. Afterwards he didnt think anybody else could have ever played Varla the way I did.
DRE: [laughs] I hope not.
Was the role cathartic for you?
TS: I felt like there was still some unfinished business there but one thing about that part was that it did limit what I could do afterwards. There were not too many people who were willing to give me other parts because they didnt think I could be soft enough. I wound up losing a lot of parts because of that film.
DRE: Such as?
TS: Like Modesty Blaise. They thought I was not feminine enough. Then there were some parts for the Matt Helm series. They thought I was too strong to play opposite Dean [Martin] even though I had played opposite Dean in a couple other films. Even though I wound up losing parts Im still happy about doing the film because I feel that it accomplished a lot for women.
DRE: I know you had some very rough times when you were younger but would it be difficult for you to say that you regret them because they were a big part of what made you what you are?
TS: Yes, there were a lot of the things that helped mold me to the way that I am. I was raped when I was almost ten years old by five guys. The helplessness and anger that comes along with that is something that takes a lot out of you. But I think it also helped make me who I am because after that I could have become a devout man-hater or I could have become a sex maniac. I think I fell in between the two.
DRE: How was the rape handled legally back then?
TS: First of all you got to realize that I am oriental and this was just a few years after the war was over. It felt like there was no crime committed against me. The oldest boys father paid the judge a thousand dollars and I went to reform school.
DRE: Its so hard for someone like me to comprehend that but it seems that youre doing so amazingly well now.
TS: Luckily my father and my brother helped me through it. It helped me put things in categories so I was a lot better off than most people who went through something like that.
DRE: Were there a lot of strong women like yourself either in Hollywood or in general?
TS: No. Back then most gals were taught that we were supposed to marry, get pregnant, have babies, take care of the man and take care of the house. There was nothing that told you that you could be strong and independent. Back then there were love children all over the place and everything had to do with loving the world and loving everything else. So being strong was not a positive asset.
DRE: Your look and your character from back then has also become a strong gay icon. When did you first start to notice that?
TS: I didnt notice that many lesbians until recently. Mostly it was the gay guys.
DRE: Why do you think that happened?
TS: I think they loved it because of the fact that I was feminine but I was not in competition with them for their partners. They were able to take their partners to go see a film and enjoy it without being worried about their partners saying, Oh God, Id really like to stick it to that one [laughs].
DRE: [laughs] What is your comic book about?
TS: Its basically a continuation from the end of Faster Pussycat. I turn out to be a good guy afterwards and I get rid of all the bad guys. I start kicking ass that way.
DRE: Quentin Tarantino said that hed give up five years of his life to work with you. Have you guys gotten in contact with one another?
TS: No we havent but Im not that hard to find. He can find me any time he wants. I would love to work with him. I would love to work with John Waters. These are people that I admire and enjoy, but I think Im a little past their era now.
DRE: Do you still want to act?
TS: Ive got two pictures that Im going to do very shortly. One is supposedly a semi-documentary on my life plus the times that I had with Russ out in the desert. Russ and I stayed friends until the day he died. I never did another film with him but he always kept saying that he wanted us to but that he felt he didnt have anything that he thought would be good enough for me [laughs]. I said, Yeah, you probably dont. because he got a little heavier into porn afterwards.
DRE: I read that you are also writing an autobiography.
TS: Yeah I worked on it for about eight years. I could probably go into a lot more details than I did but there were a couple times where I just didnt feel like writing anything [laughs]. Its hard to put a finish to a book when youre still alive. [laughs]
DRE: What made you want to write it?
TS: Thousands of my fans have said, God, we have to hear your story. So I figured Id finally sit down and write my whole story just so theyd know whats going on.
DRE: You said before you werent interested in doing nudity for Russ. Was that because you were very into being an actress or were you against things like that?
TS: The only nudity I ever did was for Harold Lloyd. That was the only time I ever posed in the nude. I didnt like posing in the nude. Theres a mystery about a woman if she had just a drape over her. On my website you can see some pictures that are very close to being nude, but Im still not [laughs]. I have pictures of when I was an exotic dancer on there and pictures when I was about 14 years old. I probably could put all the pictures from Harold Lloyds collection of me on there but I havent gotten around to that.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 18 of 18 COMMENTS
suri:
awesome!! love me some Tura
thestef:
AWESOME!! She is my hero.