Russ Meyer

A woman who had a 14-year relationship with adult film director Russ Meyer was sentenced Monday to 45 days on a work crew for beating him. Debra Angela Masson, 39, was also ordered to attend 104 meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous and one year of domestic violence counseling. Municipal Judge Dale Fischer also put Masson on three years' probation and ordered her to stay away from Meyer, 77.

Tura Satana, an actress who gained cult status for her role in the 1965 Russ Meyer movie "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!," died Friday of heart failure at a hospital in Reno. Satana's death was confirmed by her manager, Siouxzan Perry, who said Satana was 72. In "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" Satana played Varla, the leader of a "daredevil trio of sports car-driving vixens," wrote film critic B. Ruby Rich in the Village Voice in 1995. "She drove her Porsche like a bat out of hell, delivered her dialogue with an arched eyebrow that let the audience in on the joke and tossed men into the air like they were pancakes.

Russ Meyer, a master of sexploitation filmmaking who was called "king of the nudies" or "King Leer" for such soft-core pornography classics as "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" and "Vixen," has died. He was 82. Meyer, who also directed the major studio release "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls," died Saturday at his home in the Hollywood Hills, according to his company, RM Films International Inc. Spokeswoman Janice Cowart said Meyer had suffered from dementia and died of complications of pneumonia.

Two alternative filmmakers get successive tributes this week at the American Cinematheque -- L.A. punk auteur David Markey and the late King of the Nudies, Russ Meyer. It's an appropriate pairing, for Markey's two low-budget "Lovedolls" films are demented homages to Meyer's "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" (1979), itself a lurid spoof of "Valley of the Dolls" (1967). Made for a reported $250 and shot on Super 8 in the seedy backyards, side streets and beaches of L.A.

A 39-year-old woman was convicted Monday of misdemeanor battery and elder abuse for attacking adult film director Russ Meyer. Meyer, 77, was attacked May 26 while asleep on a couch at the Hollywood Hills home he shared with Debra Angela Masson. Prosecutors said Meyer and Masson had a 14-year relationship. The director is best known for a series of soft porn films produced in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including, "Faster, Pussycat, Kill! Kill!" and "Supervixens."

Tura Satana, an actress who gained cult status for her role in the 1965 Russ Meyer movie "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!," died Friday of heart failure at a hospital in Reno. Satana's death was confirmed by her manager, Siouxzan Perry, who said Satana was 72. In "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" Satana played Varla, the leader of a "daredevil trio of sports car-driving vixens," wrote film critic B. Ruby Rich in the Village Voice in 1995. "She drove her Porsche like a bat out of hell, delivered her dialogue with an arched eyebrow that let the audience in on the joke and tossed men into the air like they were pancakes.

Vocal gymnast Bobby McFerrin, who has worked with symphony orchestras and countless jazz musicians and is best known for the feel-good anthem "Don't Worry, Be Happy," will go it alone as he whoops, pounds his chest and otherwise creates vocal mischief. * Bobby McFerrin, Royce Hall, UCLA, 8 p.m. $35 to $50. (310) 825-2101. 8 pm: Dance Amalia Hernandez's Ballet Folklorico de Mexico has always been big, but this season it's bigger than at any time in the past quarter-century of U.S.

"Your personality has many different aspects, and you need to find out what they are. It's a part of self-examination," says Cliff Benjamin. It's a California ethos (remember "finding yourself"?) for a home-grown nonconformist. So far, the Many Faces of Benjamin have turned to art--painting, curating, teaching and, most recently, sales.

Two alternative filmmakers get successive tributes this week at the American Cinematheque -- L.A. punk auteur David Markey and the late King of the Nudies, Russ Meyer. It's an appropriate pairing, for Markey's two low-budget "Lovedolls" films are demented homages to Meyer's "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" (1979), itself a lurid spoof of "Valley of the Dolls" (1967). Made for a reported $250 and shot on Super 8 in the seedy backyards, side streets and beaches of L.A.

It was the first and last word in "riot grrrl" movies, albeit about three decades ahead of its time. And now "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!," the classic black-and-white low-budgeter from that avatar of big-breasted feminism, Russ Meyer, is back in theatrical release, to claim the honor it was denied the first time out.

Russ Meyer, a master of sexploitation filmmaking who was called "king of the nudies" or "King Leer" for such soft-core pornography classics as "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" and "Vixen," has died. He was 82. Meyer, who also directed the major studio release "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls," died Saturday at his home in the Hollywood Hills, according to his company, RM Films International Inc. Spokeswoman Janice Cowart said Meyer had suffered from dementia and died of complications of pneumonia.

The dignified champion had just hit what he thought was a dignified tee shot. But the fairway was longer than last year. And he was older than last year. Looking at the gaping distance required for his second effort on the Masters' renovated 14th hole Thursday, Arnold Palmer gasped, then trudged to the gallery in search of a shoulder. "Why don't we just retire right now?" he said to friend Russ Meyer. "It will get better," Meyer said. "I hope so," Palmer said. They both looked away, because they both knew it wouldn't.

"Your personality has many different aspects, and you need to find out what they are. It's a part of self-examination," says Cliff Benjamin. It's a California ethos (remember "finding yourself"?) for a home-grown nonconformist. So far, the Many Faces of Benjamin have turned to art--painting, curating, teaching and, most recently, sales.

Vocal gymnast Bobby McFerrin, who has worked with symphony orchestras and countless jazz musicians and is best known for the feel-good anthem "Don't Worry, Be Happy," will go it alone as he whoops, pounds his chest and otherwise creates vocal mischief. * Bobby McFerrin, Royce Hall, UCLA, 8 p.m. $35 to $50. (310) 825-2101. 8 pm: Dance Amalia Hernandez's Ballet Folklorico de Mexico has always been big, but this season it's bigger than at any time in the past quarter-century of U.S.

A woman who had a 14-year relationship with adult film director Russ Meyer was sentenced Monday to 45 days on a work crew for beating him. Debra Angela Masson, 39, was also ordered to attend 104 meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous and one year of domestic violence counseling. Municipal Judge Dale Fischer also put Masson on three years' probation and ordered her to stay away from Meyer, 77.

A 39-year-old woman was convicted Monday of misdemeanor battery and elder abuse for attacking adult film director Russ Meyer. Meyer, 77, was attacked May 26 while asleep on a couch at the Hollywood Hills home he shared with Debra Angela Masson. Prosecutors said Meyer and Masson had a 14-year relationship. The director is best known for a series of soft porn films produced in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including, "Faster, Pussycat, Kill! Kill!" and "Supervixens."

The dignified champion had just hit what he thought was a dignified tee shot. But the fairway was longer than last year. And he was older than last year. Looking at the gaping distance required for his second effort on the Masters' renovated 14th hole Thursday, Arnold Palmer gasped, then trudged to the gallery in search of a shoulder. "Why don't we just retire right now?" he said to friend Russ Meyer. "It will get better," Meyer said. "I hope so," Palmer said. They both looked away, because they both knew it wouldn't.

The Russ Meyer Film Festival, which opened Sunday at the Vagabond, continues tonight with the hilarious "Mudhoney" (1966). Unspoiled by either sadism or obscenity, this 1966 expose of love among poor whites is the perfect dirty movie and a flawless piece of camp (probably on purpose). No one projects heterosexual male sex fantasies with greater gusto and resolute dedication than Meyer, who at heart is a puritan and who has always been a bigger tease than any burlesque queen.

Just over the ridge at Russ Meyer's Hollywood Hills home lies the largest pornography-region in the wold, locus of director Paul Thomas Anderson's extravagantly hyped new movie "Boogie Nights," about life amid the San Fernando Valley porn industry in the late '70s. Missing from the film, however, is Meyer himself--L.A.'s grand auteur of '70s sexploitation, director of what Time critic Richard Corliss called "bosomacious melodramas" like "Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!"

It was the first and last word in "riot grrrl" movies, albeit about three decades ahead of its time. And now "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!," the classic black-and-white low-budgeter from that avatar of big-breasted feminism, Russ Meyer, is back in theatrical release, to claim the honor it was denied the first time out.