Bunny Birthday - Part 5 of 9

Looking nothing like she does with Blondie is Deborah Harry, who did a 1970 stint in the New York Club. But always beautiful whatever her hair color.

Ranking right up there with economics and convenience in attracting young women to Bunnydom is the opportunity to rub elbows with celebrities -- or to become one. More than 100 Bunnies have been featured as Playboy Playmates, for starters. View the list of Playmate Bunnies. Actress/model Lauren Hutton was a Bunny in our New York Club; so was Blondie's Deborah Harry. Susan Sullivan, star of ABC-TV's new series "It's a Living" spent three years at our Club on Manhattan's East 59th Street before landing such plum TV roles as that of Peter Strauss' lawyer girlfriend in "Rich Man, Poor Man" and the title role in "Julie Farr, M.D." Susan, who used to surprise keyholders by quoting Shakespeare, expressed fond memories of Playboy to Bob Newhart when he interviewed her earlier this year during a stint as guest host for Johnny Carson. "They made you feel you were very, very special," she said, "trained you to think that you were a goddess."

Another Gotham Bunny, Jackie Zeman, met and wed disc jockey Murray the K Kaufman while working there -- then moved to the West Coast and a role as the soap-opera siren Bobbie Spencer of "General Hospital." Los Angeles Bunny Lynne Moody played Alex Haley's great-grandmother on both "Roots" miniseries, while on the big screen, her fellow Angeleno Maria Richwine was Buddy's wife in "The Buddy Holly Story." Carol Cleveland, the blonde regular of the "Monty Python" troupe, was a London Bunny. New York Bunny Gloria Hendry got the chance to bed James Bond (Roger Moore) in "Live and Let Die"; she also appeared in "Black Belt Jones," "Black Caesar" and "Hit Man." More recently, another black Bunny from New York, Dana Valentien, was featured in "Night of the Juggler" with James Brolin. Among other Bunnies who have appeared in films are London's Katy Mirza and Anika Pavel, L.A.'s Joyce Williams, Anazette Williams, Wini Winston, Syleste Michaels and Chere Bryson.

Playmate Bunnies have often star-spangled the screen. China Lee (Miss August 1964) played the title role in the Woody Allen spoof "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" Miss December 1968, Cynthia Myers, and Miss May 1966, Dolly Read, both starred in Russ Meyer's light-hearted cult classic "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls." Sharon Clark, the 1971 Playmate of the Year, who became a Los Angeles Bunny, won plaudits for her starring role in "Lifeguard" a couple of years ago; another centerfold cottontail, New Orleans' Laura Misch (Miss February 1975), has been seen in "Mandingo," "Hard Times" and "French Quarter"; L.A.'s Astrid Schulz, Miss September 1964, had a role in "A House Is Not a Home."

Lynne Moody (above, as a Los Angeles Bunny) was Alex Haley's great-grandma in TV's "Roots."

Latest of the gatefold/Bunny sisterhood to gain stardom was 1980 Playmate of the year Dorothy Stratten, whose career was tragically cut short last summer; she starred in "Galaxina" and in Peter Bogdanovich's yet-to-be-released "They All Laughed," after having made her film debut, in "Americathon," as a Bunny.

In the celebrity-cottontail category, feminist leader Gloria Steinem occupies a special niche. Back in 1963, on assignment for "Show" magazine and using the name Marie Ochs, she signed up for Bunny training in the New York Club, spent four weeks there -- and wrote what was probably intended to be a lurid exposé for that magazine. "A Bunny's Tale" made Gloria Steinem -- and, interestingly, boosted recruiting for the Clubs.

Barbara Walters also donned Bunny ears for a story, but she did it on the up and up; her report appeared on the "Today" show in January 1963. Noted Barbara on the air: "I felt pretty awkward, but at least I didn't spill anything on the customers. . . . Later, when I left the Club, the doorman asked me if I wasn't taking off early. 'Well,' I replied, rather grandly, 'after all, I'm not really a Bunny -- I'm a reporter for the National Broadcasting Company.' 'Gee,' he said, 'you could have fooled me.' And you know something, Hugh [Downs], I must admit that secretly I think I was kind of pleased."

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Photography by Carl Iri (Lynne). Text and images copyright of Playboy.com.