Bunny Olivia Biography

Olivia in the Chicago Club Bunny Room Click to view larger

We were the Bunnies and an empire was created on our backsides and believe me, we worked hard, very hard. The amazing thing that I am sure most people don’t know is that we did not even receive minimum wage, all we received on our pay checks was tips from the keyholders, and with deductions on top of that.

Today that would be illegal, but in those days you could work for tips only. In other words, we paid to work there, you might say. Yes, we made money, but it really was hard work. We used to have $2.50 deducted for costume cleaning and $2.50 for meals, and we used to have a chuckle as we always swore that Hef had a chicken farm because the majority of nights we ate chicken.

I lived in one of the Bunny dorms at the mansion and I only paid $50.00 per month to live in this amazing house right in the middle of the near north (trés chic) area of Chicago. We had free use of the underground swimming pool, underwater bar, billiard room, sauna and sun room. There were liveried servants to take care of our needs and we could order from a menu at the house 24 hours a day though this would be charged to us as food was not included at the mansion.

One rarely saw Hef in those days as he was a recluse. Playboy International, the magazine would bring all the work to him. His suite was on the ground floor and oft times I would be descending the stairs and I would look down through his glass doors and see hopeful Playmate’s pictures strewn all over the floor. He rarely came out of there except for Sunday. That day a movie was shown in the ballroom and he would appear with whatever girl was his for that day, Pepsi and Hershey bars in hand and would settle to watch the film. After that he would chat with us a bit and then disappear. I always found him to be rather a boring person, but then even though I lived under his roof, I would hardly say I knew him after a few Sunday afternoons.

A modeling portrait of Olivia Click to view larger

I remember I used to lay about with my roommates, there were eight of us in each dorm and we would put our fingers up to our mouths as if to say, shhhhh, we always swore the place had cameras everywhere. Once the girls dared me to smuggle my hairdresser into our dorm. He was gay so we figured we’d be pretty safe.  I did it! It was a hoot! :)

I remember also the day I arrived in Chicago. I had attended a girl’s Catholic boarding school and after one or two jobs I saw the ad in a magazine and decided to apply.  I was residing in California at the time. I went to LA to be interviewed and was offered the job immediately.

After a month, I received a ticket to Chicago and was told I would be picked up at the palmer House hotel in Chicago, that all the arrangements had been made.  I had at this point lived in various places but had never  been very far a field on my own...so ....as the taxi was wending it’s way down to the city, I was awestruck by the size of the buildings and the size of everything!  I was picked up by a liveried chauffeur and driven to 1340 N. State Parkway, my new address.

I liveried footman carried my bags up to my dorm and set them down and left.  There appeared to be nobody in the sitting room which separated the two bedrooms which held two sets of bunk beds. I began to explore and came to the bathroom. I head water splashing and looked down to my right and saw a lovely blonde girl taking a bath. I guess there was a look of surprise on my face as she looked up at me and said, “if you think these are big, dahling, you should see my heart.” Her name was Marika Lukacs. She was a Hungarian and her accent was delightful, very like the Gabor sisters. Marika and I are featured in Kathryn Leigh Scott’s Bunny retrospective - The Bunny Years.

I could go on and on, but I don’t know if you need any of my ramblings, though it’s fun to reminisce.