Born 80 years ago today: sensationally beautiful sloe-eyed burlesque dancer turned Russ Meyer glamazon Haji (24 January 1946 - 9 August 2013). The bodacious Haji graced five of Meyer’s sexploitation masterpieces (starting with Motorpsycho in 1965) and enlivened them all with her exotic, sultry presence (she is awe-inspiring in Good Morning and … Goodbye! (1967) and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)) - but she will forever be remembered as the vicious go-go dancer Rosie (pictured) in one of my all-time favourite films, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965). She gives a towering performance as the sexy lesbian girlfriend of tough-as-nails villainess Varla (Tura Satana), sometimes literally spitting with rage, picking her teeth with a switchblade, and employing a thick comedic faux-Italian accent. (Full disclosure: I always assumed Rosie was meant to be Latina and Haji was employing a “Spanglish” accent – but actual Latino friends have said, whatever she’s doing isn’t meant to represent us! Haji and Tura Satana had already known each other for years, having danced together in Los Angeles strip clubs since the early 1960s). One of Haji’s best moments is when the drippy good girl Linda misguidedly offers the trio of homicidal go-go dancers a soft drink, and Rosie snarls, "Honey, we don't like nothin' soft! Everything we touch is hard!" Concrete details of Haji’s early life are shrouded in mist: of British Filipino descent, she appears to have been born Cerlet Catton (or Barbarella Catton, depending on your source) in Quebec, Canada and began dancing professionally at age 14. Haji’s niche in the glamour jungle is certainly secure! A footnote: for years, Haji was romantically involved with actor and impressionist Frank Gorshin (aka The Riddler from the 1960s Batman TV series). What a fun showbiz couple!
