The Bunny Years (59 page)

“We left London that day.

“I was just shy of my 20th birthday when I arrived in Chicago to stay at the Playboy Mansion. Victor and I stayed in the Blue Room. It was all quite amazing for a middle-class English girl from Bristol. The parties, celebrities and the Sunday night movies—I had never been in anyone's home where first-run movies were screened. Hugh Hefner would appear with his pipe and a beautiful, slender blonde he was dating. His girlfriend took me on a tour of his Mansion, showing me the motorized circular bed that went ‘round and ‘round.

Dolly Read Martin at home in Los Angeles.

“Within the week, I discovered Victor was cheating on me, sneaking down to the swimming pool with another girl in the middle of the night. But he was so charming, he could get away with anything. When I accompanied Victor to the opening of the Boston Club, we flew up from New York in a small chartered craft. It was snowing heavily. By the time we reached Boston we were in a fierce storm. The airport was closed. When Victor heard that we had been refused landing permission, he demanded that the pilot tell air traffic control that we were running out of fuel. We were allowed to land, and made it to the Boston Club in time for the opening.

“One salutary aspect of the trip is that Victor learned I was Hefner's idea of a Bunny, after all. I became the first of the six British Bunnies hired. Within months Hefner had also selected me to be the May 1966 Playmate.

“The six British Bunnies stayed at the Mansion in the Bunny Dorm. We took training and rotated a month each working as Door Bunny, Camera Bunny and Cocktail
Bunny in the various Showrooms. I never dreamed how hard the work would be. We were young, eager girls who were soon worn out by the pressure and sheer long hours. Publicity and promotional work took up our days, and we worked as Bunnies at night. It was exhausting. Much of the glamour faded for me when I became run-down and ill toward the end of my stint in the Chicago Club.

“Victor was in London, but I would call him frequently. Invariably a girlfriend would answer the telephone. Finally I told him I never wanted to see him again. But when I returned for the opening of the London Club, he surprised me at the airport with my parents in tow and luncheon reservations for all of us. He was so crafty! I do have a soft spot for him.

“The London Club opened on July 1, 1966. There were celebrities galore, including Julie Christie, Ringo Starr, Michael Caine and Hugh O'Brian. With all the publicity, thousands of women—and a few men dressed up as women—had applied to be Bunnies. The job was considered glamorous work, but money was the big lure. In 1965, London shop girls and secretaries were earning less than $50 a week, while I made more than a hundred dollars a week as a Door Bunny. That was considered a fortune. Bunnies working in the Showrooms and Casino could earn even more with tips.

London Club on Park Lane in fashionable Mayfair, 1965.

“But I no longer wanted to live in England—and after making a stupid remark about English men that was quoted in the newspapers, it was time for me to leave town! Within a week of the opening, I quit. While I still had my visa, I wanted to return to the States and get on with my acting career. It was through Playboy in Chicago that I got my work permit. I did Playmate promotions and, in 1967, worked about six months as a Bunny in New York. I enjoyed that Club the most, primarily because of the marvelous camaraderie among the people working there. I loved
going to work. And when I was ill with pneumonia, everyone rallied around bringing me food, taking care of me.

“The following year, I moved to Los Angeles determined to pursue my acting career. I was broke and applied for a job at the International House of Pancakes in West Hollywood. I told the manager I had waitressing experience working at the Playboy Club. ‘Oh, no,' he said, ‘being a Bunny isn't work. You don't know what work is!' I was so angry because he wouldn't even give me a chance. Not long after that, my agent sent me to audition for a role in
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
. As I drove along Pico Boulevard in my old Dodge Dart toward 20th Century-Fox Studios, I saw a huge billboard for
Hello, Dolly!
I thought, ‘Now there's a Good Omen.' It was—I got the lead role in the film at a salary of $500 a week.

“At about the same time, I began dating Dick Martin, the most wonderful man in the world, who was doing
Laugh-In
with his partner Dan Rowan. The show was a huge breakthrough success. Dick has the most amazing mind and makes me laugh. We've now been married 29 years.

“I believe in laughter—I think a big belly laugh jiggles your insides and keeps you healthy. Certainly happy. It's funny how you always remember the hard times, though. Whenever I went on the road with Dick and Dan, I always refused to eat in an International House of Pancakes, even if it was the only restaurant in town open.”

T
IA
M
AZZA

I
was sent by Playboy to open the London Club in July 1966. On my 21st birthday I remember sitting in the Dorchester Hotel drinking champagne and thinking ‘This is exactly where I want to be, in London, celebrating my birthday and making plans to leave tomorrow for a weekend in Paris.'

“Playboy had selected 10 Bunnies from various U.S. Clubs to train the English girls. I had applied, and when I was chosen, Tony Roma called to ask, ‘Do you still want to go?' Of course I did, but I was so timid in those days. It would be the first time I was away from home and my first trip on an airplane.

“During the six months I worked in the London Club, I took every opportunity to travel. Bonnie, an
English Bunny I met at the Club, and I zigzagged through Italy, France and Spain, where we ran out of money. When I was detained upon arrival at Heathrow Airport, I told the immigration officer I was a Bunny and that Victor Lownes would vouch for me. Victor had, of course, become notorious in London. The immigration officer came back with a smile and said ‘Mr. Lownes is pleased to be your sponsor.'

Bridal Millinery designed by Tia Mazza at New York's Saks Fifth Avenue. The Philadelphia Museum of Art commissioned Tia to design hats for its Hats of the 20th-Century exhibit.

“In Europe, everyone and everything I encountered was flamboyant, extreme and part of a jet-set culture that was unfamiliar to me. I would never have believed people had such wealth. In the casinos you could watch gamblers placing bets using gold plaques worth £100,000, about $200,000 then. I never thought I would even know someone with that kind of money, but I was with a friend when he lost over $30,000 on a single roll of dice: After losing, my friend looked at me and asked if I would like dinner now or later. He didn't blink. I'd entered another world.

“I was lucky that I had such strong bonds with my family. I could appreciate my London experience without it turning my head. It was an amazing six-month adventure.

“I married in 1969 but continued to work. Playboy spoiled me: They funded my education and gave me a wide latitude in my work schedule. I would often join my husband, a businessman, on his frequent trips to the Orient and Africa, and spent a good deal of my time in our home in Vermont. Although I had a busy personal life, there was no reason for me to quit working. I worked at Playboy over a period of 20 years, beginning in September 1963. I was one of the few Bunnies rehired when the Club reopened after its renovation, and stayed on to work in customer service until the Club closed permanently on August 6, 1983. I wanted to be close to my friends at Playboy, and there was always something going on there that I wanted to be a part of.

“While I was at Playboy, I took advantage of their tuition assistance program. I began designing hats when I took a course at the Fashion Institute of Technology. One day someone in class said, ‘You know, you could sell those hats.' I went to Barneys and showed the buyer my hats. I was trembling so much that the woman said, ‘Tia, calm down, we're taking everything.' They did—and then ordered more. That was the beginning of my millinery career.”