Cerlet "Haji" Catton 1946-2013 - Another Pussycat has left us.....

     Damn, this has been a sad week.....  Cerlet Catton - better known to movies fans as "Haji" has passed away at the age of 67. Her close friend, Francesca "Kitten" Natividad (who had first reported this on Facebook) posted that she was in good health but succumbed to a heart attack shorty after complaining of feeling ill.
    Born Jan. 24 1946 in Canada (Quebec is listed on a bunch of her bios - but she had Nova Scotia on her Facebook page), she started out as an exotic dancer and later in life was a strong supporter of animal rights and environmental issues. Her out of this world beauty, unbelievable figure & exotic looks were best known to movie fans from Russ Meyer's classic Faster, Pussycat! Kill !! Kill !! (1965), as one of a trio of tough as nails ass kickin' go go dancers. She also appeared in Meyer's Good Morning and....Goodbye ! (1967). Motorpsycho (1965) and Supervixens (1975), plus had a small part in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970). In addition to her work in Russ's galaxy, she also appeared in Bigfoot (1970), Ilsa Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks (1976) and John Cassavete's The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) among others.
   My personal favorite Pussycat, she had an undeniable presence with a smoldering exotic sensuality. Haji leaves behind a very lasting memory & movie roles that were truly bigger then life (who can ever forgot her slo-mo naked run in Good Morning...And Goodbye !). Plus, what movie fan doesn't have that moment forever etched in our minds of when we first watched awestruck those opening moments of Faster, Pussycat ! Kill !! Kill !! ? Lori Williams is now the sole survivor of the most famous trio in exploitation movie history.

 
 
 

Karen Black July 1 1939 - Aug. 8 2013

    Karen Black has passed away today at the age of 74. A quirky & highly unique actress, she was the female face of the American independent cinema movement of the late 60's & 70's. Whether a prostitute dropping acid with Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider (1969), the sweet & simple girlfriend of Jack Nicholson's from Five Easy Pieces (1970) or a morally corrupt wanna-be actress in 1975's The Day of the Locust (and countless others) - she was one of those rare actresses that seemed to magically morph into any role.
   Steadily working since her first major role in Francis Ford Coppola's Your a Big Boy Now (1966), she always sought out interesting & different roles such as Mother Firefly in Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses (2003). In one of her best known roles she was stalked by a Zuni doll in the very creepy "Amelia" episode from writer Richard Matheson (who sadly passed away this past June) and director Dan Curtis's Trilogy of Terror. First aired on TV in 1975, it still stands today as one of the most terrifying stories ever presented on the small screen. She will be VERY VERY missed.