Jump to: Skinterview | Related Links
In the grand pantheon of bra-busting superstars, one name thrusts mightily above the rest: Francesca "Kitten" Natividad. The dazzling mega-cup princess, whom mammary master Russ Meyer once described as "hotter than a Mexican's lunch," was born fifty-six years ago in Mexico, moved Stateside to El Paso, Texas, at age eight, and by her teens was in Hollywood babysitting for Stella Stevens.
After a brief stint as certainly the most bodacious key punch operator IBM ever had, she decided to capitalize on her natural assets and in 1969 started taking it all off at a strip club called Gianone's in Pasadena. An instant sinsation, the sizzling vixen took the Miss Nude Universe title in '73, which led her to star in director Meyer's cult classics Up! (1976) (Picture: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5) and Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens (1979) (Picture: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4).
In the past few years Kitten has undergone made-for-Lifetime-TV-movie level trials; she survived a bout with breast cancer that resulted in a double mastectomy and, after a complicated relationship with the bottle, is enjoying nearly five years of sobriety.
After successful reconstructive surgery, she is back in action, working on a biography, making appearances, and helming her website, KittenKlub.com, all with the same radiant enthusiasm that's kept three decades of fans slathering for more.
Everyone's seen Boogie Nights. Was that an accurate depiction of the sex biz in '70s Hollywood?
Oh yes, drugs were really in. We'd go disco dancing and you could smell the amyl nitrate in the air like dirty socks. It was just a fabulous fucking time! I loved it! It was orgies, it was so open. You drank and drugged, everything was great. It was just fun fun fun. Movie stars came to see you strip. They'd buy us a drink and give us coke and we'd party later with them, take the party to their house.
Movie stars? Like who?
I don't want to say. Aren't I good? I had a lot of fun with a lot of men--all kinds, wild, crazy, intelligent, everything.
I heard you used to hang out with Tony Curtis.
He was a fun guy. We used to party, and it was wild! He loved to wear his muumuu with fur boots. He had a beautiful house, art deco, very posh stuff. In one room there were thousands of faces lined up against the wall and everywhere. What he would do, every time he fucked somebody or ate somebody or somebody blew him, he'd put aluminum foil on you and mold your face from it, with straws sticking out of your nose so you could breath. Then he'd hang it up like a fuckin' trophy! He's so creative. Then I'd sit there in his dressing area, he had a huge closet, and he'd play dress up. He'd put wonderful hats on, coats, he loved to model his clothing. It was pretty cool.
Can you contrast the sex industry back then versus now?
I'm glad I don't have to blow a hundred guys, like they do now, and get cum from a hundred guys on my body! [Laughs] I'd really be on drugs, trust me!
But now porn stars can kind of cross the line and be big stars, and me, I had to break barriers. "You can't be in Playboy, you already showed your pussy in another magazine," stuff like that.
But it's all about sex. It goes around and around, big tits are popular, then they'll get tired of big tits and small tits will be in fashion and then big tits again. No matter what, pussy is the power. I just wish Hollywood wasn't so jaded, that they could have me on some fucking talk shows. Listen to me cussing! But it's very competitive, and you get to a certain age and it's like, next! But that's okay, I have fans that love me, I'm a cult figure. Thank God Russ was in my life. The little girl from Chihuahua, Mexico.
Have you ever gone back there?
I went back to work there in the '80s. I played in a theater where I used to pay twenty-five cents to see Gone with the Wind when I was in high school, and I made out with my boyfriend there. I stripped there, and all of my girlfriends from high school came with their husbands. I never had a reunion, so it was like that. Faggots came, guys who I didn't know were gay in high school. It was kinda neat.
What was Russ Meyer like as a director?
He let me improvise; it was all very energetic and over-the-top. The crew was so small, it was just a handful. The reason it was so fun for me was I fucked every lunch break with Russ. I was kept happy. I was so in love, so in lust, and I'd get so horny and he'd take care of me. It was just fabulous.
I understand you introduced him to anal sex.
Yes, you're such a pervert! Details details details! [Laughs] He says he liked my pussy better. He's so white bread, I had to whip him down a little bit. I just sat on his face and rode it and told him where to stick his dick, you know. I was the director in bed!
You were going to be in The Great Rock and Roll Swindle, the film Meyer started with the Sex Pistols.
I was going to be Johnny Rotten's girlfriend. He didn't like me. We were supposed to have a sex scene where he's on top of me screwing me, and, oh! He had all these gross pimples, and he was always picking his nose. And the only thing he ate was mush! [Laughs]
Beyond the tragedy of your breast cancer, the irony is unbelievable. It's like Einstein getting brain cancer.
I know! I was known for tits! I'm glad it was on the outside of the body, not the inside, and reconstruction is so great. And Russ was there for me, he gave me $12,000 to pay for my surgery. It was surreal, but it happened. I'm sure it did.
And now you're sober.
I finally straightened up my act. I decided to live. I never wanted to stop drinking; I couldn't imagine my life without a drink. Now, after five years sober, it's easy for me to make decisions, to say no or yes. There's a belief I have in myself, and I'm not in fear the way I used to be. It was strange, my job was to get naked, show everybody everything, and I used to be fearful so I'd drink. It was stupid. It was like a torture. I mean, I started off being very proud of my body, then later it was like, What am I doing?
So you're keeping busy?
Oh yes, and I can't wait until my book's out. Richard Foster is writing it, we've done hours and hours of interviewing. The publisher feels that since my audience is baby boomers it'll work. Kids today, they don't read. They just jack off! The fan club keeps me very busy, and when guys call me I always end up selling something to them. I have no regrets about anything I did. Basically, I love my life, but it's very, very normal. I walk my dog, I have four cats, and I take care of a lady that has Alzheimer's. Talk about learning patience, when someone asks forty times, "Did I order? What am I eating?" When I come home, I just want to be with my dog and cats. No humans!
After a brief stint as certainly the most bodacious key punch operator IBM ever had, she decided to capitalize on her natural assets and in 1969 started taking it all off at a strip club called Gianone's in Pasadena. An instant sinsation, the sizzling vixen took the Miss Nude Universe title in '73, which led her to star in director Meyer's cult classics Up! (1976) (Picture: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5) and Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens (1979) (Picture: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4).
In the past few years Kitten has undergone made-for-Lifetime-TV-movie level trials; she survived a bout with breast cancer that resulted in a double mastectomy and, after a complicated relationship with the bottle, is enjoying nearly five years of sobriety.
After successful reconstructive surgery, she is back in action, working on a biography, making appearances, and helming her website, KittenKlub.com, all with the same radiant enthusiasm that's kept three decades of fans slathering for more.
Everyone's seen Boogie Nights. Was that an accurate depiction of the sex biz in '70s Hollywood?
Oh yes, drugs were really in. We'd go disco dancing and you could smell the amyl nitrate in the air like dirty socks. It was just a fabulous fucking time! I loved it! It was orgies, it was so open. You drank and drugged, everything was great. It was just fun fun fun. Movie stars came to see you strip. They'd buy us a drink and give us coke and we'd party later with them, take the party to their house.
Movie stars? Like who?
I don't want to say. Aren't I good? I had a lot of fun with a lot of men--all kinds, wild, crazy, intelligent, everything.
I heard you used to hang out with Tony Curtis.
He was a fun guy. We used to party, and it was wild! He loved to wear his muumuu with fur boots. He had a beautiful house, art deco, very posh stuff. In one room there were thousands of faces lined up against the wall and everywhere. What he would do, every time he fucked somebody or ate somebody or somebody blew him, he'd put aluminum foil on you and mold your face from it, with straws sticking out of your nose so you could breath. Then he'd hang it up like a fuckin' trophy! He's so creative. Then I'd sit there in his dressing area, he had a huge closet, and he'd play dress up. He'd put wonderful hats on, coats, he loved to model his clothing. It was pretty cool.
Can you contrast the sex industry back then versus now?
I'm glad I don't have to blow a hundred guys, like they do now, and get cum from a hundred guys on my body! [Laughs] I'd really be on drugs, trust me!
But now porn stars can kind of cross the line and be big stars, and me, I had to break barriers. "You can't be in Playboy, you already showed your pussy in another magazine," stuff like that.
But it's all about sex. It goes around and around, big tits are popular, then they'll get tired of big tits and small tits will be in fashion and then big tits again. No matter what, pussy is the power. I just wish Hollywood wasn't so jaded, that they could have me on some fucking talk shows. Listen to me cussing! But it's very competitive, and you get to a certain age and it's like, next! But that's okay, I have fans that love me, I'm a cult figure. Thank God Russ was in my life. The little girl from Chihuahua, Mexico.
Have you ever gone back there?
I went back to work there in the '80s. I played in a theater where I used to pay twenty-five cents to see Gone with the Wind when I was in high school, and I made out with my boyfriend there. I stripped there, and all of my girlfriends from high school came with their husbands. I never had a reunion, so it was like that. Faggots came, guys who I didn't know were gay in high school. It was kinda neat.
What was Russ Meyer like as a director?
He let me improvise; it was all very energetic and over-the-top. The crew was so small, it was just a handful. The reason it was so fun for me was I fucked every lunch break with Russ. I was kept happy. I was so in love, so in lust, and I'd get so horny and he'd take care of me. It was just fabulous.
I understand you introduced him to anal sex.
Yes, you're such a pervert! Details details details! [Laughs] He says he liked my pussy better. He's so white bread, I had to whip him down a little bit. I just sat on his face and rode it and told him where to stick his dick, you know. I was the director in bed!
You were going to be in The Great Rock and Roll Swindle, the film Meyer started with the Sex Pistols.
I was going to be Johnny Rotten's girlfriend. He didn't like me. We were supposed to have a sex scene where he's on top of me screwing me, and, oh! He had all these gross pimples, and he was always picking his nose. And the only thing he ate was mush! [Laughs]
Beyond the tragedy of your breast cancer, the irony is unbelievable. It's like Einstein getting brain cancer.
I know! I was known for tits! I'm glad it was on the outside of the body, not the inside, and reconstruction is so great. And Russ was there for me, he gave me $12,000 to pay for my surgery. It was surreal, but it happened. I'm sure it did.
And now you're sober.
I finally straightened up my act. I decided to live. I never wanted to stop drinking; I couldn't imagine my life without a drink. Now, after five years sober, it's easy for me to make decisions, to say no or yes. There's a belief I have in myself, and I'm not in fear the way I used to be. It was strange, my job was to get naked, show everybody everything, and I used to be fearful so I'd drink. It was stupid. It was like a torture. I mean, I started off being very proud of my body, then later it was like, What am I doing?
So you're keeping busy?
Oh yes, and I can't wait until my book's out. Richard Foster is writing it, we've done hours and hours of interviewing. The publisher feels that since my audience is baby boomers it'll work. Kids today, they don't read. They just jack off! The fan club keeps me very busy, and when guys call me I always end up selling something to them. I have no regrets about anything I did. Basically, I love my life, but it's very, very normal. I walk my dog, I have four cats, and I take care of a lady that has Alzheimer's. Talk about learning patience, when someone asks forty times, "Did I order? What am I eating?" When I come home, I just want to be with my dog and cats. No humans!
