This I Know: Tura Satana

Being badass and feminine is a tough mix. Tura Satana not only pulls it off, she invented it. by Jennifer Nielsen


Have you ever come across someone that seems like they’ve lived 10 lives to your one?  I have and she’s Tura Satana - the gorgeous and iconic star of Russ Meyer’s 1965 cult classic, Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!. The best burlesque dancer ever to use up a whole stage working her tassels like no one else - she didn’t earn the distinction of Best Tassel Twirler in the World for nothing.  The obsession of many a movie star and celebrity (Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, to name two rumors.)  The woman who wrote the book on how to be feminine and a badass at the same time.  Tura may be best known for all of the above, but this doesn’t even begin scratch the surface.

I catch Tura on phone as she was packing in her Reno, Nevada home, getting ready for another whirlwind tour to hang out with her beloved – and beloving – fans across the country.  Tura is 70 with the mouth of a 17-year old, the wisdom of someone who’s been around the block a few dozen times, and an attitude that crosses from sweet and lovely to don’t-mess-with-me in a matter of  seconds.  Her voice is so reminiscent of my grandmother’s, that I have to keep Tura’s pin-up pictures in front of me to remind myself that indeed she is not.

Tura had a less than an idyllic childhood, and has the scars to prove it. She was born in Japan, moved to the U.S. with her family, where they were placed in a Japanese internment camp in California, released and then moved to Chicago.  She left school and was on her own by age 13.  From that time, she bounced between Chicago and LA, perfecting her own brand of burlesque dancing – "…we had costumes and props – we learned how to cater to the audience. They [burlesque personalities of today] don’t have the charisma to bring the audience in.  We didn’t have to screw a pole to look like we were sexy.  We were.  There’s a difference."

Her voluptuous sexiness and talent catapulted her to fame, but not without casualties along the way.  The proudest moment of her burlesque career has a punchline like no other. "[30’s and 40’s Actor] Eddie Foy, Jr. brought me four dozen long stemmed roses after my first night working in a burlesque theater.  The card said, 'To a lady that has more talent than she knows.'  I felt like 100,000 grand right there.  Nobody could take that away from me."

This is where the story takes what I come to appreciate as the typical Tura turn.  "Earlier that day was the matinee show, the star of the show, Princess Do May, said there’d be hell to pay if my boobs bounced when we went on stage at the end.  I said 'How in the goddamn hell am I supposed to stop them from bouncing?  I’m walking, they’re bouncing.' So, we walked out, and my tits bounced.  Backstage, [Princess Do May] raked her fingernails across my chest.  I broke her arm.  Her boyfriend got involved and I broke his ribs and they both had black eyes.   When I got the flowers from Eddie [that night], I still had the claw marks on my chest.  And you know what, after that, she was no longer the star." There’s a lesson, here.  You don’t mess with Tura.  Or her tits.

For as many women that were threatened by Tura’s endowments and looks, there were men that adored her.  Writer/Producer/Director Billy Wilder discovered her at the Pink Pussycat Club in LA.  "Billy and his wife were there… she said to him, 'There’s your Suzette Wong.' [the character Tura would go on to play in Wilder’s 1963 film, Irma la Douce, starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine.]"  Wilder loved the fact that Tura had pasties on her breasts and twirled tassels. "I can make those things almost talk," she brags.  Wilder gave her his card and when she went to meet with him, he said, "You have the most talented tits I’ve ever seen.  Do you mind if we put tassels on all your outfits?"

Tura appreared in several films, but none as famous as Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!.  She played Varla, the unofficial leader of a dancer/stripper gang of three that wreaks havoc in the cult film, heralded by many including director John Waters who calls it ‘beyond a doubt, the best movie ever made. It is possibly better than any film that will be made in the future!’ This role was the pinnacle of Tura’s career and her iconic image as Varla has been fodder and inspiration for artists around the world.  She says, "When I was in Faster Pussycat [my breasts] were a 38 FF.  They were worried they’d fall out of my outfits.  I told them 'Hey, if they fall out, the more the merrier.'"

 Googling Tura turns up the obvious hundreds of fansites, but also a persistent rumor that Quentin Tarantino is considering remaking Faster Pussycat.  I take a deep breath and ask Tura her opinion on this.  "I’ve never met Quentin.  I heard he once said he’d never improve on perfection [when talking about Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!.]"

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