Kitten Natividad

Kitten Natividad

Kitten Natividad in June 2007
Born Francesca Isabel Natividad
(1948-02-13) February 13, 1948
Ciudad Juárez, Mexico
Other names Francesca 'Kitten' Natividad, Francesca Natividad, Frances Natividad
Height 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
Website http://www.kittenklub.com

Kitten Natividad (born Francesca Isabel Natividad; February 13, 1948) is a Mexican American film actress, exotic dancer and porn star, noted for her 44-inch chest and appearances in cult films by her ex-partner, director Russ Meyer.

Early years

Natividad was born in Ciudad Juárez, 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.[1] Natividad attended high school in El Paso, where she was her senior class president.[2]

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.[3] At age 21, she had her first breast implant surgery in Tijuana (where it was legal) on the advice of her agent.[1] Due to the tragic results of all breast-enhancement surgeries, she eventually developed breast cancer and deeply regretted having been talked into it.

Career

Kitten Natividad was introduced to Russ Meyer by fellow dancer Shari Eubank, a performer in Meyer's 1975 film Supervixens.[4] Meyer hired her to narrate his movie Up!, where she was shown sitting nude in a tree,[3] quoting the poetry of Hilda Doolittle and acting as a Greek chorus to the nonsensical action.[5] 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[1] and voice lessons to eliminate her accent.[3] She left her husband for Meyer during the filming, and they lived together as a couple for most of the next 15 years.[1]

After this, Natividad moved into pornographic modeling, mainly doing glamour or girl-girl shoots with the likes of Candy Samples, Uschi Digard, and Patty Plenty.[3] The appearances increased her dancing income many times over. She incorporated a giant champagne glass into her act (similar to Lili St. Cyr[1]), accompanied by the Bobby Darin hit "Splish Splash."[3] She appeared as a guest on The Dating Game, one of a number of game shows that Chuck Barris produced.

During the 1980s, Natividad began appearing in pornographic productions, initially limiting her performances to appearing topless. Eventually, however, she graduated to engaging in hardcore performances, usually with younger men and women. 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.[1]

In 2001, Natividad starred in the cult film comedy The Double-D Avenger, directed by William Winckler, and in it, she was reunited with fellow Russ Meyer stars, actress Haji from Russ Meyer's Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and Raven De La Croix from Russ Meyer's film Up! In The Double-D Avenger, Kitten Natividad plays Chastity Knott, a woman who becomes a busty costumed crime fighter.[6][7]

In pop culture

Natividad in 2000

Personal life

In October 1999, Kitten Natividad underwent double-mastectomy surgery for treatment of breast cancer.[8] After her breasts were removed, it was discovered that the silicone that had been used in her implants was of an industrial grade rather than a surgical grade. She subsequently underwent corrective surgery, and this brought her close to the size that her fans remembered her having been. As of early August 2016, she was living alone with a pit bull and three cats, all of which were featured in the 2005 documentary movie Pornstar Pets, and she continued to support herself with sales of her porn videos and phone sex.[1] 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.[9]

Selected filmography

Kitten Natividad has appeared in more than 65 films and video productions. Career highlights and major studio features include:

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Jessica Berens (July 22, 2001). "Return of the Ultravixens!". London: The Observer. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
  2. ↑ Chris Beyond (August 2002). "the no-fi "interview" with Kitten Natividad". No-Fi Magazine. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Kitten Natividad bio". Photoclub.com. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
  4. ↑ "Shari Eubank". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
  5. ↑ Roger Ebert (April 1, 2005). "Breast in show". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
  6. ↑ "Variety article". Variety.
  7. ↑ Category: Movie Reviews. "The Best in Horror Since 2002". HorrorTalk. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
  8. ↑ "KITTEN NATIVIDAD UNDERGOES BREAST SURGERY". Adult Video News. October 27, 1999. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  9. ↑ Scott Shrake. "Kitten Natividad interview". UsedWigs.com. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
  10. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0197308/
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