|
|
|
|||
Her father was from Japan and the Philippines, and her mother was American Indian and Scots-Irish. After the end of World War II, she and her family moved to Chicago where she learned martial arts, in particular karate. She also studied Ikido in Hawaii and earned a gold belt. Tura soon became the leader of a gang of teenage girls. In an interview with Psychotronic magazine, she said, "We had leather motorcycle jackets, jeans and boots and we kicked butt." Tura became a successful exotic dancer in Los Angeles and ended up traveling from city to city, working with the likes of Rose Le Rose, Maxine Martin The Skyscraper Girl, Tempest Storm, Candy Barr and Stunning Smith the Purple Lady. At 19, Tura still danced for the next eight months with a typical week of work earning her around $15,000. During this time, Tura was romantically involved with Elvis Presley for a few months. She told Psychotronic magazine of the relationship; "I met Elvis when I was working in Louisiana, he came into New Orleans during Mardi Gras. He was a young singer and he liked my routine, or rather my gyrations, so I taught him how to do it. He dated me for six or seven months, but then he was on the road and so was I." Her early acting career saw Tura take on a few television appearances on Hawaiian Eye, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., The Greatest Show On Earth with Jack Palance, Burke's Law, and others. She also began appearing in movies, including Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? where she played a dancer with Dean Martin and Elizabeth Montgomery. That same year, she had a cameo as a Paris prostitute in the musical Irma La Douce with Jack Lemmon and Shirley Maclaine. Tura's greatest screen role was as Varla in Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! - a very aggressive and sexual female character. She did all of her stunts and fight scenes herself.
|
