Kitten Natividad. The name alone is enough to inspire a volcanic eruption in the pants of an entire generation of men. From her early days as a traveling stripper to her current incarnation as a malevolent matron in Sugar Boxx, Kitten (nee Francesca) and her twins have been the gold standard of gazongas for five decades. Skin Central spoke with the vivacious titan of titillation about her new film, her lesbian tenants, her love of construction workers, and much more!
Skin Central: So you had a birthday recently?
Kitten: Yes, on February 13. And you know, everything is getting better in my life, I feel so secure about decisions I make. Of course, my body’s not what it was, but mentally I feel so smart. Now I have apartment buildings and I really enjoy running the place and doing the plumbing, and sometimes I tell the plumbers what they’re doing wrong, cause I just watch them like hawks! At first, because I pack a pussy they just had no respect for me. (laughs)
Skin Central: Have you had anybody come to look at an apartment and recognize you?
Kitten: Yes they recognize me, but I mostly rent to lesbians. I don’t want guys coming up in there, it’s a nice place, it’s heavenly to just go in the morning, and throw your clothes in the wash, and walk around naked. It’s kinda neat.
Skin Central: That’s great. So you did a film recently, Sugar Boxx….
Kitten: Yes. [Director Cody Jarrett] knew who I was, but he didn’t really have me in mind [at first]. I guess he thought I was going to be some kind of a diva or something. I wanted to play a part where I wasn’t a sex symbol, I wanted to be an ASSHOLE.
Skin Central: You’re the bitchy matron in this film, right?
Kitten: Yes! I wanted to be unattractive, as long as I know what I look like when I come home and take off my clothes and get in front of that mirror and I say “ah! You look good” then I’m happy (laughs) And I did a GREAT job, [the director] said, and I’ve seen the movie with different audiences and the audiences don’t know I’m there, I sneak in when they start the film. And I hear them ROOTING for me even though I’m the bad guy, and when I get killed they go “NOOOOOOO!” (laughs)
Skin Central: So was it a stretch for you to play that kind of a role, a mean hard-ass?
Kitten: NO! Because you know what, it was HILARIOUS, and everybody on the set was really, really good, and when you have good actors it makes everything so natural, and [it] falls in place, and Cody was so calm. I don’t know if he’s on tranquilizers or WHAT, but I mean half the set’s falling apart, the shower scene doesn’t work, [and] he’s just calm as can be. And you know what? He has to be otherwise we’d all go crazy.
Skin Central: When you first started out, you toured the country for several years, right?
Kitten: Oh my god, I toured the country for- let me see- from 1970 to the 90’s, for thirty years! I had like 7 suitcases, and [after a while] I stopped having husbands to carry my makeup cases, you know, ‘cause they were too expensive to have (laughs) I said, you know, I’ll carry my own makeup case, and God it was hard work.
Skin Central: Are there any cities or clubs you remember particularly fondly?
Kitten: Oh God, yes! I remember that I loved New York, and I always lost a lot of weight there because I would walk like 38 blocks to the hotel.
Skin Central: Yeah, everybody’s so skinny in New York ‘cause they walk so much!
Kitten: It’s marvelous. What I loved about New York is, there were always these construction workers, and I would just walk by and “HEY BABY! YEAAAH SHAKE ‘EM! LOOK AT THOSE MILK SHAKERS!” and I just LOVED it! Oh God, did I do a show for them! And I’d say, “Come see me at Show World, baby, and see ALL of it!” and they’d go crazy! I’d bring down the house there.
Skin Central: Would they show up [that night]?
Kitten: You BETCHA they would! And boy, they cleaned up pretty good. I liked to strap those workers on! (laughs)
Skin Central: What inspired you to get into nude modeling and stripping in the first place?
Kitten: Well, you know, I always used to look at myself in a mirror and I liked what I saw, and I wished people could see how good my body is. Nude modeling did it.
Skin Central: You wanted to share with the world.
Kitten: I wanted to be a SHOWBOAT! (laughs)
Skin Central: You do some really classic stripping routines, like the feather fan dance and the giant martini glass…what do you think about these younger girls who have [revived] that culture?
Kitten: Ohhh, I think it’s just beautiful! But there’s one thing to be a real successful stripper- you’ve gotta show that you just love for men to look at you. You just gotta love the whole thing, gotta love the guys to look at you, you gotta love men, and what you’re doing, you love your costumes, you love your routine, your music, it all has to come together as a beautiful, perfectly timed, climactic moment.
Skin Central: So it’s all about the energy, the connection with the audience….
Kitten: Yes, yes! I’ve seen some wonderful, wonderful dancers and strippers [who could] care less about their audience.
Skin Central: You were working as a stripper when you first met Russ Meyer, right?
Kitten: Yes, I’ve always been a stripper, since I was 21, honey.
Skin Central: How did you two meet?
Kitten: Well, we met through some friends who brought him to see my show. And he hired me on the spot. I think he wanted to screw me right there and then. I was married at the time.
Skin Central: So how much time passed between then and when you shot Up?
Kitten: Probably a couple of weeks. He was finished with Up!, but it didn’t make any sense, so he wanted me to be the chorus, so it would make sense.
Skin Central: Weren’t the crews [on his films] very small?
Kitten: The crews were small, but you know what, it’s because he wanted to control everybody, and everybody had a job. And it worked out great, he used his own bedroom, his own house, and he used the outside, which saved a lot of money. To tell you the truth, the outside was beautiful and great, and he loved deserts, you know.
Skin Central: Did you ever have to do any other jobs on the set, like lighting, or your own makeup, or anything like that?
Kitten: No, he was screwing me, I was his queen bee, honey. He didn’t want me to carry any of the equipment. He abused me in other ways, like 30 takes of running up and down a hill. How would you like to run up and down a hill barefoot over rocks and weeds and all that stuff? You know, having your tits flop up and down, and be beautiful, and not out of breath…but I was young, and I could do it.
Skin Central: I was thinking of the first scene in Up!, where you’re nude and in the top of that tree.
Kitten: That was very scary, we had to use ladders, and then a guy had to go behind me looking up the crack of my ass so I wouldn’t fall…one time I did fall, so he put his hand there. Actually I got tired of sitting on that piece of wood with ants crawling up my ass, so then (Russ) had to tell the guy to cup his hands and I sat on his hands for the rest of the thing.
Skin Central: So is it true that when you first started working with Russ Meyer, you didn’t know how to fake an orgasm?
Kitten: Well, you know [Russ Meyer] says, “fake it” and I hadn’t been an actress, it was my first film! So he took one of the crew (guys) and made him lay down and I sat on the guy’s face and I had my orgasm. He was very accommodating. I never told my husband how I did that orgasm! (laughs)
Skin Central: [One of your] famous cameos was in Airplane! How did you get that gig?
Kitten: You know what? People would call me. They would know exactly where I was working, and they would call and say, “We’ve got this part.” I didn’t have an agent. That’s it. It was different in those days. Let me tell you something- I was the pioneer. See, somebody like me would never get movie parts or anything, being a stripper, or a porn star or whatever. I opened up gates for the mainstream films and all that. I wanted to be a stripper that had a lot of PR, so I did nude magazines, I did the dating game, I would do anything to put [myself] out there.
Skin Central: You were on The Gong Show, weren’t you?
Kitten: I was on The Gong Show, the $1.98 beauty contest. That crap. (laughs)
Skin Central: A lot of the things you’ve done [have] this blend of sexiness and comedy – has this always been part of your public persona?
Kitten: It’s been my life, my everyday life, it’s part of me RIGHT NOW. (laughs)
Skin Central: So it’s your [real] personality.
Kitten: This is what I am! (laughs)
Skin Central: Well, I do have one serious question. You’re a breast cancer survivor. How did [that experience] affect your outlook on life?
Kitten: You know what, it cleaned up my outlook on life. It was like somebody up there telling me, you better shape up, bitch, ‘cause I was doing lots of drugs and drinking a lot and not eating healthy and really stressed out…and you know, once that happened, I just decided to fight and to clean up my act and everything worked out. I was abusing myself, and so when I got the breast cancer I said I wanna live, and I wanna live good and I wanna take care of this body. That’s how I survived it, I went for it and I cleaned up my act – and I did not take it on the road (laughs)
Skin Central: As someone who was part of the stripper culture of the ‘60s and the B-movie culture of the ‘70s, what do you think about the revival of those art forms that’s going on right now- films like Sugar Boxx, [which is] a tribute to the B-movies of the ‘70s?
Kitten: Everybody welcomes them, it’s time again! What goes around comes around, and this is the timing right now, we’re ready for it. We’re sick of the old, we want the- very, very old AGAIN! (laughs)
Skin Central: I’m just curious…Have you ever dated a man who wasn’t a breast man? Who was like “meh, I could take ‘em or leave ‘em.” Because you’re famous for your…
Kitten: Of course, of course! They’re called horn dogs, they’ll fuck anybody (big laugh) [But] I want a man to worship my breasts, yes baby, and there’s plenty of ‘em. They’re lined up (laughs)
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