Kitten Natividad
Encyclopedia
Kitten Natividad is a Mexican American
film actress and exotic dancer
, noted for her 44-inch chest and appearances in cult film
s by her ex-partner, director Russ Meyer
.
, Mexico
, the eldest of nine children, and did not speak English
until she was 10. At that time her mother married a U.S. citizen and they moved to Texas
. Natividad attended high school in El Paso
, where she was her senior class president.
After moving to California
, she worked as a maid and cook for Stella Stevens
and as a key punch operator
for IBM
before turning to go-go dancing to make ends meet. Her stage name Kitten came from her shyness. At age 21, she had her first breast implant surgery in Tijuana
, where it was legal, in order to move into topless dancing. Due to the tragic results of the breast enhancements she deeply regretted having been talked into doing it (see below).
by fellow dancer Shari Eubank
, a performer in Meyer's 1975 film Supervixens
. Meyer hired her as the narrator of his movie Up!, where she was shown sitting nude in a tree, quoting the poetry of Hilda Doolittle and acting as a Greek chorus
to the nonsensical action. Meyer was so impressed he wanted her to star in his next feature, Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens
(one of several collaborations between Meyer and film critic Roger Ebert
). He paid for a second breast enhancement and voice lessons to eliminate her accent. She left her husband for Meyer during the filming, and they lived together as a couple for most of the next 15 years.
After this, Natividad moved into pornographic model
ing, mainly doing glamour or girl-girl
shoots with the likes of Candy Samples
, Uschi Digard
, and Patty Plenty. The appearances increased her dancing income many times over. She incorporated a giant champagne glass into her act (similar to Lili St. Cyr
), accompanied by Bobby Darin
hit "Splish Splash
".
In 1970-1980s she took part in some short-footage "sexy wrestling" films, mainly with companies like Curtis Dupont and Triumph Studios. During the 1980s, Natividad began appearing in hardcore productions, initially limiting her performances to appearing topless, but eventually doing hardcore performances, usually with younger men. She also founded the private photo and video studio Kitten Klub. She famously appeared as a stripper at the bachelor party
held by Sean Penn
to celebrate his 1985 marriage to Madonna
.
surgery for treatment of breast cancer
. After her breasts were removed, it was discovered that the silicone
used in her implants was of an industrial grade. She has since had corrective surgery and is close to the size that her fans remember her being. She currently lives alone with a pit bull
and three cat
s (all featured in the 2005 documentary movie Pornstar Pets
), and supports herself with sales of her porn videos and phone sex
, with an international clientele. She appeared in the Adam Rifkin
independent feature A Night at the Golden Eagle
; according to her, Rifkin remembered recognizing her when their cars were both stopped at the same stoplight 25 years earlier.
In January 2008, Natividad was inducted in the Legends of Erotica Hall of Fame.
Mexican American
Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States...
film actress and exotic dancer
Exotic dancer
The terms exotic dancer and exotic dance can have different meanings in different parts of the world and depending on context. In the erotic sense, "exotic dance" is a often used to refer to practitioners of striptease...
, noted for her 44-inch chest and appearances in cult film
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
s by her ex-partner, director Russ Meyer
Russ Meyer
Russell Albion "Russ" Meyer was a U.S. motion picture director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, actor and photographer....
.
Early years
Natividad was born in Ciudad JuárezCiudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez , officially known today as Heroica Ciudad Juárez, but abbreviated Juárez and formerly known as El Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez's estimated population is 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, the eldest of nine children, and did not speak English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
until she was 10. At that time her mother married a U.S. citizen and they moved to Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. Natividad attended high school in El Paso
El Paso
El Paso, a city in the U.S. state of Texas, on the border with Mexico.El Paso may also refer to:-Geography:Colombia:* El Paso, CesarSpain:*El Paso, Santa Cruz de TenerifeUnited States:...
, where she was her senior class president.
After moving to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, she worked as a maid and cook for Stella Stevens
Stella Stevens
Stella Stevens Stella Stevens Stella Stevens (born October 1, 1938 is an American film, television and stage actress, who began her acting career in 1959 and starred in such popular films as The Nutty Professor, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, The Silencers, The Ballad of Cable Hogue and The...
and as a key punch operator
Key punch
A keypunch is a device for manually entering data into punched cards by precisely punching holes at locations designated by the keys struck by the operator. Early keypunches were manual devices. Later keypunches were mechanized, often resembled a small desk, with a keyboard similar to a...
for IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
before turning to go-go dancing to make ends meet. Her stage name Kitten came from her shyness. At age 21, she had her first breast implant surgery in Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
, where it was legal, in order to move into topless dancing. Due to the tragic results of the breast enhancements she deeply regretted having been talked into doing it (see below).
Career
Kitten Natividad was introduced to Russ MeyerRuss Meyer
Russell Albion "Russ" Meyer was a U.S. motion picture director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, actor and photographer....
by fellow dancer Shari Eubank
Shari Eubank
Shari Eubank is a retired American 1970s adult actress, who has only appeared in two films.-Early years:...
, a performer in Meyer's 1975 film Supervixens
Supervixens
Supervixens is a 1975 sexploitation film by American filmmaker Russ Meyer. The cast features Meyer regulars Charles Napier, Uschi Digard, and Haji...
. Meyer hired her as the narrator of his movie Up!, where she was shown sitting nude in a tree, quoting the poetry of Hilda Doolittle and acting as a Greek chorus
Greek chorus
A Greek chorus is a homogenous, non-individualised group of performers in the plays of classical Greece, who comment with a collective voice on the dramatic action....
to the nonsensical action. Meyer was so impressed he wanted her to star in his next feature, Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens
Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens
Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens is a satirical sexploitation film starring Kitten Natividad and Ann Marie with a cameo by Uschi Digard. It was directed by American motion picture director Russ Meyer, and written by Roger Ebert and Meyer....
(one of several collaborations between Meyer and film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
). He paid for a second breast enhancement and voice lessons to eliminate her accent. She left her husband for Meyer during the filming, and they lived together as a couple for most of the next 15 years.
After this, Natividad moved into pornographic model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
ing, mainly doing glamour or girl-girl
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
shoots with the likes of Candy Samples
Candy Samples
Candy Samples is an American pornographic actress and exotic dancer.-Career:According to her website, Samples was approached while in Marina Del Rey, California to do pin-up modeling...
, Uschi Digard
Uschi Digard
Uschi Digard is a Swedish former softcore porn star and model known for her roles in Russ Meyer films.- Early years :...
, and Patty Plenty. The appearances increased her dancing income many times over. She incorporated a giant champagne glass into her act (similar to Lili St. Cyr
Lili St. Cyr
Lili St. Cyr , was a prominent American burlesque stripper.- Early years :She was born as Willis Marie Van Schaack in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1918. She had a sister, Rosemary Van Schaack Minsky...
), accompanied by Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...
hit "Splish Splash
Splish Splash (song)
"Splish Splash" is a 1958 song performed and co-written by Bobby Darin. It was written with DJ Murray the K , who bet that Darin couldn't write a song that began with the words, "Splish Splash, I was takin' a bath", as suggested by Murray's mother, Jean Kaufman. The song was credited to Darin and...
".
In 1970-1980s she took part in some short-footage "sexy wrestling" films, mainly with companies like Curtis Dupont and Triumph Studios. During the 1980s, Natividad began appearing in hardcore productions, initially limiting her performances to appearing topless, but eventually doing hardcore performances, usually with younger men. She also founded the private photo and video studio Kitten Klub. She famously appeared as a stripper at the bachelor party
Bachelor party
A bachelor party , also known as a stag party, stag night or stag do , a bull's party , or a buck's party or buck's night , is a party held for a man shortly before he enters marriage, to celebrate his "last night of freedom" or merely to spend...
held by Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
to celebrate his 1985 marriage to Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
.
In pop culture
- Kitten Natividad appeared on The Gong ShowThe Gong ShowThe Gong Show is an amateur talent contest franchised by Sony Pictures Television to many countries. It was broadcast on NBC's daytime schedule from June 14, 1976 through July 21, 1978, and in first-run syndication from 1976–1980 and 1988–1989. The show was produced by Chuck Barris, who also served...
in the late 1970s. - She appeared in a 1980s music video for Mitch RyderMitch RyderWilliam S. Levise, Jr , better known by his stage name Mitch Ryder, is an American musician who has recorded over two dozen albums in more than four decades.-Career:...
's version of the song, "When You Were MineWhen You Were Mine"When You Were Mine" is a song written and released by Prince on his 1980 album, Dirty Mind. Though not released as a single, the song received a promotional 12" release...
", which was written by Prince. - Kitten Natividad had a noteworthy topless scene as a prostitute in the film My TutorMy TutorMy Tutor is a 1983 film directed by George Bowers. It stars Matt Lattanzi, Caren Kaye, Kevin McCarthy and Crispin Glover.-Premise:The film details high school graduates' attempts to lose their virginity during the summer vacation before leaving to college, and one's eventual relationship with his...
, where the sight of her large bosom causes her young client to pass out for some moments, only to regain consciousness and pass out indefinitely as soon as he actually touches it. - In August 2006, Kitten Natividad appeared in PlayboyPlayboyPlayboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
in "The History of Bikinis"
Personal life
In October 1999, Kitten Natividad underwent double-mastectomyMastectomy
Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. Mastectomy is usually done to treat breast cancer; in some cases, women and some men believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operation prophylactically, that is, to prevent cancer...
surgery for treatment of breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
. After her breasts were removed, it was discovered that the silicone
Silicone
Silicones are inert, synthetic compounds with a variety of forms and uses. Typically heat-resistant and rubber-like, they are used in sealants, adhesives, lubricants, medical applications , cookware, and insulation....
used in her implants was of an industrial grade. She has since had corrective surgery and is close to the size that her fans remember her being. She currently lives alone with a pit bull
Pit bull
A Pit bull is any of several breeds of dog in the molosser breed group.Many jurisdictions that restrict pit bulls, including Ontario, Canada,, Miami, Florida, U.S...
and three cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
s (all featured in the 2005 documentary movie Pornstar Pets
Pornstar Pets
Pornstar Pets is a 2005 documentary film directed by Margie Schnibbe.The 52 minute film includes 25 pornographic actors and their sometimes exotic pets in a vein similar to Celebrity Pets....
), and supports herself with sales of her porn videos and phone sex
Phone sex
Phone sex is a type of virtual sex that refers to sexually explicit conversation between or other persons via telephone, especially when at least one of the participants masturbates or engages in sexual fantasy...
, with an international clientele. She appeared in the Adam Rifkin
Adam Rifkin
Adam Rifkin sometimes credited as Rif Coogan, is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. Rifkin is claimed to belong to a rare breed of film directors that transited from public-access television cable TV to Hollywood.His eclectic career ranges from broad family comedies to cult...
independent feature A Night at the Golden Eagle
A Night at the Golden Eagle
Night at the Golden Eagle is a 2002 American film written and directed by Adam Rifkin.-Plot:Two elderly criminals spend their final night in Los Angeles, California at the Golden Eagle Hotel prior to their departure to Las Vegas, Nevada, to lead a life without crime...
; according to her, Rifkin remembered recognizing her when their cars were both stopped at the same stoplight 25 years earlier.
In January 2008, Natividad was inducted in the Legends of Erotica Hall of Fame.
Selected filmography
Kitten Natividad has appeared in more than 65 films and video productions. Career highlights and major studio features include:- The New CenturionsThe New CenturionsThe New Centurions is a 1972 crime drama film based on the novel by policeman turned author Joseph Wambaugh.It stars George C. Scott, Stacy Keach, Scott Wilson, Jane Alexander, Erik Estrada and James Sikking and was directed by Richard Fleischer....
(1972) - Up! (1976)
- Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-VixensBeneath the Valley of the Ultra-VixensBeneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens is a satirical sexploitation film starring Kitten Natividad and Ann Marie with a cameo by Uschi Digard. It was directed by American motion picture director Russ Meyer, and written by Roger Ebert and Meyer....
(1979) - Airplane!Airplane!Airplane! is a 1980 American satirical comedy film directed and written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker and released by Paramount Pictures...
(1980) (uncredited) - Deep Jaws (1976)
- Airplane II: The SequelAirplane II: The SequelAirplane II: The Sequel is an American comedy sequel to the 1980 film Airplane!. First released on December 10, 1982, the film was written and directed by Ken Finkleman and stars Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Lloyd Bridges, Chad Everett, William Shatner, Rip Torn, and Sonny Bono.-Plot:In the near...
(1982) (uncredited) - My TutorMy TutorMy Tutor is a 1983 film directed by George Bowers. It stars Matt Lattanzi, Caren Kaye, Kevin McCarthy and Crispin Glover.-Premise:The film details high school graduates' attempts to lose their virginity during the summer vacation before leaving to college, and one's eventual relationship with his...
(1983) - Night Patrol (1984)
- The Wild LifeThe Wild Life (film)The Wild Life is a 1984 comedy-drama film, written by Cameron Crowe and directed by Art Linson.The movie was an indirect sequel to the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The film is only available on VHS and Laserdisc in pan and scan with stereo analog tracks. No DVD version has been released due...
(1984) - Takin' it off (1985)
- An Evening With Kitten (1985; according to Luke FordLuke FordLuke Ford is an American writer, blogger, and former pornography gossip columnist known for his disclosures and traditionalist Jewish religious views.-Personal:Ford moved to California in 1977...
, her best-seller ) - Takin' it All OffTakin' it All OffTakin' It All Off is a 1987 straight-to-video release from Ed Hansen and Robert T.Gervasoni's Hansen / Gervasoni productions company, and provided a quick sequel to Hansen and Gervasoni's popular 1985 feature Takin' It Off...
(1987) - Another 48 Hrs.Another 48 Hrs.Another 48 Hrs. is a 1990 action-comedy film and a sequel to the 1982 film 48 Hrs.. It was directed by Walter Hill and stars Eddie Murphy, Nick Nolte, Brion James, Andrew Divoff, and Ed O'Ross. Nolte returns as San Francisco police officer Jack Cates, who has 48 hours to clear his name from a...
(1990) - 40 The Hard Way (1990; her first hardcore intercourse on camera )
- United Trash (1996)
- Die 120 Tage von Bottrop (1997)
- The Double-D AvengerThe Double-D AvengerThe Double-D Avenger is a 2001 American comedy film by William Winckler.This film, first released in fall 2001, written, produced and directed by cult filmmaker William Winckler, is a campy spoof of "Wonder Woman" about a costumed superwoman who uses her super bust to fight crime.It's of special...
(2001) - Night at the Golden Eagle (2002)