The World Of Playboy

Bahamas Welcome Playboy

A contingent of British and Bahamian Bunnies greets Hugh M. Hefner on his arrival in the Bahamas for the opening of the Playboy Casino at Nassau--presenting him with a rabbit-eared straw hat. The grand-opening festivities drew celebrity guests from the fields of music (Cy Coleman, Mabel Mercer and Dionne Warwick), journalism (Rex Reed) and film (Lynn Redgrave), as well as top Bahamian officials: Prime Minister Lynden O. Pindling, Deputy Prime Minister A. D. Hanna and Gaming Board Chairman Perry Christie. The casino, the first opened in the Bahamas since 1967, is owned by the local government's Hotel Corporation and operated by a Playboy Clubs International subsidiary under the direction of Victor Lownes, PCI President. It is located in the Ambassador Beach Hotel.

Below, Marguerite Pindling, wife of the prime minister, cuts the ribbon symbolizing the formal opening of the Playboy Casino. Looking on are Hefner, Prime Minister Pindling (in front of roulette wheel) and PCI President Victor Lownes.

At left, jazz great Cy Coleman, Composer of Playboy's Theme and a slew of other top tunes, reminisces with another all-time stellar musician, singer Mabel Mercer, who wowed keyholders in the earliest days of the Playboy Club in Chicago. At right, Playmate Sondra Theodore and Hefner talk with singing star Dionne Warwick, who was headliner for the casino-opening show.

Playboy's Bahamian casino, which is already being enlarged, opened with an initial setup of 19 tables offering patrons a choice of blackjack, craps, roulette, baccarat and Big-6, together with 80 slot machines. The staff includes a number of British Bunnies who are employed as croupiers.

Among the notables at the opening: Sondra, Hef, Mabel Mercer and British actress Lynn Redgrave. The Hefner party, which flew in by private jet, also enjoyed a fishing excursion while in the Bahamas.

On Location at Great GorgeApparently, everybody likes the Playboy Resort & Country Club at Great Gorge, New Jersey, as a shooting location. At left, Great Gorge Bunnies lend support to the members of Playboy's 1978 Preview All-America Team as they pose for their portrait (see this month's Pigskin Preview).

In the two shots below, members of the cast of the forthcoming Paramount release King of the Gypsies take a break between scenes being filmed on Playboy's New Jersey property. Hot young star Brooke (Pretty Baby) Shields is pursued by representatives of the media (below left), while fellow stars Shelley Winters and Sterling Hayden (below) crack up.

Ex-Bunny Marcy Hanson Rolls on TVThe liveliest (we'd be prejudiced if we said loveliest) of the Rollergirls on the recent NBC-TV series was prospective Playmate Marcy Hanson (above), whom habitués of the St. Louis Playboy Club will recognize as a former Bunny there. Marcy has been linked romantically of late with ex-pro football great Joe Namath and with rock singers Rod Stewart and Keith Moon.

Double ExposurePlayboy's identical twin Beaudet sisters (right) are interviewed by host Charlie Rose on the AM Chicago television program; the subject of the day's discussion was, you guessed it, identical twins. According to a reliable source, that's Kathy Beaudet Miro, Copy Department Secretary, at left; Patty Beaudet, Assistant Picture Editor, on the right.

OUI Has a PartyValentino come back to life? No, just Playboy Editorial Director Arthur Kretchmer dipping with Arlene Cramer, wife of Oui Editor Richard Cramer, at a Mansion West party celebrating Oui's move to Los Angeles. Below, host Hefner talks with guests Carol Connors (whose song Someone's Waiting for You won an Oscar nomination) and Josh Taylor of Days of Our Lives.

No Gong for Hef's Birthday PartySeems as if every year Hugh M. Hefner's close friends try to outdo themselves in planning a bigger and better birthday bash for Playboy's founder. This year's version, honoring Hef's 52nd, was a take-off on television's outrageous Gong Show. Those who daringly risked being gonged for their onstage routines included the guest of honor himself, who stopped the show with a socko closing rendition of Thank Heaven for Little Girls. At right, scorekeeper Sivi Aberg, a member of the cast of the real Gong Show, introduces Sheila Culp and Sondra Theodore to the audience as well as panelists Hefner, actor Peter Lawford and comedian Alan Kent.

Swinging into action, Sheila and Sondra do their thing: a lively dance-hall-girl routine (left). Leading the applause were Sheila's spouse, actor Robert Culp, and Hef. At right, Hefner greets horror-film star Christopher Lee, who was recently revealed to be Muhammad Ali's favorite movie actor. At least that's what Ali told a press conference at the Canes Film Festival. Why? "Because I liked him in Dracula . . . and because he bit me on the neck once." Ali didn't make Hef's party, but such notables as director Richard Brooks, actors David Janssen and Hugh O'Brian, singer Mel Torme did.

Above, partygoers crowd onto the stage for the grand finale, as Hefner and his pal Lee Wolfberg, who was the person principally to blame for this event, are showered with confetti and balloons. Maybe they were lucky; it could have been tomatoes.

We knew James Caan could play the guitar (see World of Playboy, March), but the saxophone? We won't be surprised to hear someday soon that Jimmy has started a one-man band. Above, premier porn performer Harry Reems appears to have taken up a new career: juggling, er, balls.

Playmate Update: Daina House Onscreen in Fonda Movie

Miss January 1976, Daina house (below), appears as Celeste, a young prostitute (below right), in The Great Smokey Roadblock, formerly titled The Last of the Cowboys. The film stars Henry Fonda as Elegant John, an ailing, independent trucker who is reduced to stealing his own rig when he gets behind on the payments. Trying for one last run across the U. S., Elegant John meets up with an old flame, now a madam (Eileen Brennan), and her six young hookers, who also must high-tail it out of town; the ladies of the evening and the trucker join forces in a contemporary Western.

Playboy Article Lands on Broadway

Actor-director Peter Masterson was reading the April 1974 issue of Playboy backstage when he came across an article titled The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, written by Larry L. King. "Might just make a musical," he mused, "A musical?" asked King, when invited to collaborate. The verdict, rendered by theater critics four year later, is a resounding yes. The play by the same name is now a Broadway hit and may soon be a movie.

Christie Pitches in for TV Auction

Among celebrity guests serving as volunteer pitchpersons for WTTW, Chicago's public-television station, during its Auction '78 was Playboy Enterprises' Vice-President Christie Hefner (above center). This year's event surpassed WTTW's $500,000 goal in 65 hours of on-the-air appeals, down from 86 in 1977.

Drummin' and Dancin'

Country crooner Don Drumm (right), familiar to Playboy Towers Bar Patrons, has a new LP, Bedroom Eyes (Churchill). The title song hit the C&W top 20. After a smash run at the L.A. Club, Jeff Kutash's The Dancin' Machine (below) played to packed houses in the Chicago Playboy Club. The Disco-dancing troupe has a network TV show, as well as a Chicago return engagement, in the works.