The Nude Serpent

Somewhere in a darkened corner of the Elks Club in Brownsville, PA. is a poster of a beautiful nude girl whose body is wrapped by a coiled Burmese serpent.

The girl is Nastassja Kinski, an actress.

She gave the signed poster to the club in 1984 as a gift. Nastassja was making a movie, 'Maria's Lovers,' in the Brownsville area with Robert Mitchum and John Savage.

I was living in nearby California, PA., a small college town, and working as editor of the Brownsville Telegraph. I had joined the Elks Club because they featured a good poker game three nights a week where a considerable amount of cash changed hands.

Players in the game included Brownsville Police Chief Sam Nicola, his wife, Fanny, Mugsy Belvis, Dave, a coal miner, Andy, a retired Russian coal miner, Betty, a widow, and an assortment of characters who came and went.

I knew the movie was being filmed in Brownsville because the production company had sent us a press release. I even set up an interview with Savage, a rising star who would play Nastassja's husband in the R-rated film.

Savage was supposed to make a speech at a Veterans of Foreign Wars Club luncheon in Brownsville. I attended it, but didn't get much out of him to make a story. It was too early in the day to be drinking. He rambled on and on, not making much sense, and I assumed he was on drugs.

One evening about a month after they had started shooting the film, the club manager came to our poker table.

'Feast your eyes, gents,' he said, grinning. 'You ladies can look away.'

He unfurled a large poster of a nude Nastassja Kinski with a python wrapped around her body.

'This is going to be a permanent fixture in this club,' he said and left to hang it up.

The bartender at the Elks Club said Mitchum was a tequila drinker. He would usually show up at the bar after most of the members had left. He liked to drink alone so we left him alone.

I did some research on Nastassja. She was a native of Berlin, Germany, daughter of a German-Polish actor named Klaus Kinski. Her parents divorced when she was 10 and she never saw much of her father after that.

She appeared in her first film when she was 12 and modeled in Germany through her teens. At 15, she met movie director Roman Polanski. He was impressed with her looks and her talent and advised her to study Method Acting with Lee Strasberg.

Polanski hired Kinski to star in his film, 'Tess.' The movie was successful and was nominated for six awards, including Best Picture.

Nastassja moved to America and appeared in 'Paris, Texas'. She also co-starred with Marcello Mastroianni in an Italian romantic comedy, 'Stay As You Are.'

In 1981, photographer Richard Avedon shot the famous photo of her with the Burmese python. The picture appeared in 'Vogue' magazine and was turned into a best-selling poster.

The cast of 'Maria's Lovers' was staying at the Holiday Inn on the edge of Brownsville. One evening after a couple of drinks at the Elks Club, I decided it was time I met Nastassja.

I drove to the Holiday Inn just before sunset. As I entered the Holiday Inn lounge, Nastassia Kinski was walking out.

Giving her my best smile, I said, 'Nastassja, I used to write for People Magazine. Would you grant me an interview? I think I could talk the editors into using the story --'

She interrupted me with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

'Darling, I have been on the cover of Time. Who needs People? But thank you for the offer.' With that the nude serpent flounced off into the Brownsville night.