If anyone epitomizes a "wild thing," it's bohemian femme fatale Uschi Obermaier, sexual icon and successful model in 1960s Germany. She was the it girl, hippie rebel and rock-star player of the time (boasting affairs with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Jimi Hendrix). With her signature pout, big hair and fearless attitude, Obermaier's free and passionate spirit made her one of the most desired women of the times.

She first earned her rebellious reputation as girlfriend of Rainer Langhans, leader of Germany's leftist party Kommune 1, but found their ideals conflicted with the freedom she desired. Her lust for ultimate liberty was fulfilled when she won the heart of adventurer Dieter Bockhorn, with whom she traveled around the world in a bus he custom-made for her.

Obermaier's story of freedom amidst the sexual revolution is documented in director Achim Bornhak's recently released Eight Miles High, which adapts her biography High Times. Actress Natalia Avelon takes us through Obermaier's short-lived life of glamour from teenage runaway to nomadic model and fought-over Stones groupie. The movie is a whirlwind tour of her life, capturing the restlessness of the time and costs of free love. Talking to Obermaier on the phone, I found that at sixty years old, she's an even more potent figure of femininity and sexuality than the film portrays. — Bianca Merbaum

So life in the '60s really was one wild party, with lots of sex, drugs and rock and roll?
It really was like that with all the ups and downs. At that time everything — the music, the fashion, the politics — everything was really new. Germany at the time was really suffocating and you were supposed to do what your parents wanted to. I just did not want it. Other people around me didn't want to put up with it either. So we tried everything, and sometimes it was good and sometimes we made mistakes. When we were so young we wanted to try out everything. And also our hormones were raging. Right away you fall in love and you think sex is a beautiful language and you want to speak it, you want to try it.

In the movie, 'free love' is a struggle, with a lot of jealousy and pain. Do you think free love can really exist?
That idea of 'free love' was kind of put on by the Kommune 1. That you don't own the other person. I never felt it. The saying 'jealousy doesn't exist' is just in the mind. I never understood it. If I love someone, I'm jealous like hell. When someone slept with someone else it hurt me. I'm just like a normal person too.

The movie doesn't show your life after Dieter Bockhorn's death. This whole period of your life ended when his life ended.
Up to the time when Bockhorn died, life was very glamorous and I had everything thrown into my lap. After Bockhorn's death I really hit the bottom. I was too old for modeling, I was in America, I didn't want to go back to Germany like my parents hoped after Bockhorn died. They hoped that I would come back home like a dog with his tail between his legs. But I said no, I'm not going to do that. It was very hard times for me. I didn't know how to exist, but I always followed my heart and nowadays, being sixty, I'm exactly where I always wanted and wished for.

Where's that?
My place in Los Angeles is in the mountains. I have a lot of space and freedom, I have a beautiful house and I just do what I want. I'm into making jewelry, and that seems to take off. I'm really, very happy with my life.

Let's gossip a little bit about your affairs with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Were they good lovers?
Were they good lovers? Of course. Otherwise I wouldn't have been with them. But people always ask me, "Who was the best lover?" and I have to tell you, the best lover is always the man I'm with, right now.

And who's that?
[Laughs] I'm not telling that!

There is a brief part in the movie about your exchange with Jimi Hendrix, but did you have anything intimate with him?
Unfortunately that's not in the movie. We were only together for a short time but in my mind he was just the sweetest person. He was just — I can't really explain it in words — but there was something really really special about him, not just because he was "Jimi Hendrix." He had something that really hit my nerve. He was a wonderful person, wonderful. Very shy!

Did he play you songs?
Um... no, not really, because we were busy [laughs].

Do you think Natalia Avelon's sexy performance is an accurate depiction of you?
Yeah. Well, I would say I was even better [laughs]. I think she did a good job. What really disturbed me — just little things — is she had too much makeup on. Like the red lipstick. You would have never caught me in red — you would have caught me in purple. Then she tried to make my pout, which didn't come naturally, so I kind of cringed. But really, I don't want to put anything down because she really did a great job. She picked up on a lot of my habits and attitude. The whole cast was really good, especially the guy who plays Bockhorn. At times, sometimes, my heart stopped — I thought it was old footage. But Bockhorn had this incredible smile, and he couldn't bring that.