Tura Said

I'm not going to get into a big 'in memoriam' - there's plenty of those going around now. Tura was a real kick (to put it mildly), so here's an interview I did with her in 2009 for my blog. I had readers send in questions. She was having a ball! We did this at my house and sat side-by-side.


MJ:Tell her we LOVE her!

A: Thank you!

No.6 said...

Ask TURA : "Just do it!" is her motto, what was the first thing she's done with that in mind?

A: Let's see. I got married. I married a cop (laughs.) Basically just about anything I do is what I want to do. Who can tell me no?


Mavis Martini said...

I'd like to know who HER idols are! Who does she look to for guidance?

A. My father and as far as a female idol, I don't have one. I made my own (laughs.)


6 said...
My second "ask Tura" is, to match more the DL Trade Mark : when she was a lil' girl, what was the first woman artifact she remember using to play a woman?

A. Being a Jehovah's Witness, my mother wouldn't let me wear makeup. So it was a cigarette.

My Third "Ask Tura"is, what is her first personal physical LA/Hollywood male souvenir?

A. He wants to know who was the first star I ever screwed? Tony Bennett.

Muscato said ... Ask her for some good Ted "Astrozombies" Mikels dish!

A. It depends on how high my heels were when I stepped on him.
Me: do you want to want put that on there? Tura: yes.


The Stewardess asks: What do you wear to bed?

A pair of lace panties. Even on cold nights.

Anonymous: What was the first club you worked at?

A. The first club I worked at was the Club Rendezvous, in Calumet, Illinois. The first club I ever danced in, not as a stripper, was the Tropicana, on Sunset Boulevard, in Hollywood.


DL: What was it like working with Dean Martin?

A. Great. He was a fun person to work with, and he was very easily surprised, especially when I did a backbend and was twirling my tassels without a bra on (laughs.) He got the biggest kick out of that. I told if I could rev 'em up fast enough I could fly! That day on the set - we had a closed set where supposedly nobody was supposed to come on because I was doing my strip routine - well, we had a huge audience of everyone from all the different offices! They found out when I was going to do it, and they were there!

What lot was that on?

A. That was on the main lot at Paramount Studios, Stage 3 or Stage ... not sure, but it was a huge stage. They had the Tijuana nightclub set in there. And I really would like to know who told all those people! For a closed set, we had Robert Mitchum, of course Billy Wilder (laughs) and (director) William Wyler and a lot of the different stars that were working at Paramount then. Everybody was there. I told the director Danny Mann I should have collected a fee for this and he said, "No, I oughtta!"

You were in "Our Man Flint," too, right?

A. I actually played both the dancers in the nightclub. I played the first and second one in the Marseilles nightclub. James Coburn was very funny - he was a hilarious person. He's the one who went around 20th Century Fox telling everyone that I was going to be doing the routine. Daniel Mann was also the director on that film! It seemed like every place I ever worked Danny Mann was around. He was a sweetheart. He was afraid to make love to me. We used to sleep together. But we didn't ever make love. There's a lot of weird people in Hollywood!