Faster Pussycat Kill Kill (5 Stars)

Two days ago I received a message telling me that Susan Bernard passed away on 21st June. She was never an A-List actress, so there weren't any big articles in the press. I wouldn't have heard about it if I hadn't been contacted by Dennis Busch, one of her fellow actors in this wonderful, groundbreaking film.

Admittedly, she isn't the first person that people think of when they discuss "Faster Pussycat Kill Kill". The spotlight is on the three bad girls, so good girl Linda fades into the background. When I watched the film today I deliberately concentrated on her part. Even though she's a good girl, she also commits a murder. Whether she'd be tried for it depends on the skill of her lawyer, so I won't even hazard a guess.

This was Susan's first film. She made another few films in late 1960's and early 1970's, but this is the film she'll always be remembered for. At the time she made "Faster Pussycat Kill Kill" she was only 16, so her mother insisted on being on set. Russ Meyer agreed, but he later regretted it because her mother kept interfering during the filming. Parents should be seen but not heard.

Susan grew up in Hollywood surrounded by celebrities. Her father was the photographer Bruno Bernard, who took pinup photos of actresses and glamour models. After her father's death she published a collection of previously unseen photos of Marilyn Monroe. He was a regular contributor to Playboy magazine, which was a factor in her being selected as Playmate of the Month for December 1966.

There was no need for her to dangle holly over her head. I would have kissed her anyway.

For years Susan claimed that she was the first Jewish Playmate of the Month, but it was later discovered that Miss May 1959 was Jewish. In 1998 she modified her claim to "I was the first under-18 Jewish virgin who was in the centerfold placed in front of a Christmas tree". There's no way I can argue with that.

Susan retained her girl-next-door image, which could hardly have been said of her three co-stars. Tura Satana probably looked mean as a toddler.

She was delightful, probably one of the most blissfully innocent models ever featured in Playboy.

The body of a woman and the face of a little girl.

It wasn't her father who took these photos, but he must have been proud of his little girl.

Susan Bernard
February 11, 1948 – June 21, 2019