Russ Meyer’s main muse Kitten Natividad appears in Burlesque documentary League of Exotique Dancers
If you’ve seen the wild, untamed work of maverick filmmaker Russ Meyer (Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!) you know that outside of his arch storytelling, kinetic editing and singular sense of style, the man loved women’s breasts. Titanic tits are kind of Meyer’s epitaph, really. And within his world he enabled, nurtured and empowered a pack of amazing ladies who were as tough and powerful as they were supernaturally curvy.
One of Meyer’s most famous females is dancer and actress Kitten Natividad, whom Meyer first featured in his 1976 film Up! and then, in his final and perhaps best film, 1979’s deranged and rapturous Beneath the Valley of the Ultra Vixens. But the Mexican-born beauty and nightclub staple wasn’t just Meyer’s onscreen muse, she was his partner in his life…right up to his tragic final years.
Still living in Hollywood, Natividad has navigated the changing landscapes of exploitation and adult entertainment and landed on her feet. She figures prominently in director Rama Rau’s award winning Canadian Burlesque documentary League of Exotique Dancers, a joyous portrait of a handful of still active icons of the art of theatrical stripping that will have its small screen premiere in Canada on CBC’s Documentary Channel this Sunday night, February 19th at 9pm EST and 10pm Pacific. The film was produced by Emmy award-winning Storyline Entertainment.
To time with this release and just because she’s a remarkable woman whose lived many lives on the fringes of Hollyweird, we called Natividad up to learn more about her wild, sometimes troubled, but never boring adventures.
Here, in this exclusive audio interview recorded on Valentine’s Day 2017, Kitten and I spoke in depth about her life, its highs and lows – and there were many of both – in what is a refreshingly candid interview…
Here’s Kitten…
