/ 8 February 2011

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! actress dies at 72

Tura Satana — who gained cult status for her role in the 1965 Russ Meyer movie Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! — has died of heart failure. She was at the age of 72.

The Los Angeles Times reports Satana’s death was confirmed by her manager, Siouxzan Perry, who said Satana died on Friday at a hospital in Reno, Nevada.

In Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Satana played Varla, the leader of a trio of thrill-seeking go-go dancers who kills a man with her bare hands. The women then set out to rob a wealthy older man who lives on a desert ranch with his two sons.

Meyer said the movie was an “absolute loser” when it was released, but the movie was rediscovered in the 1990s. It has since been shown at film festivals and art house cinemas.

Satana’s other credits include the 1963 film Irma la Douce and the television shows Burke’s Law and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. — Sapa-AP