 |
INTRODUCTION
THE PLAYBOY 'LIFESTYLE'
PLAYBOY IN BRITAIN
BUNNY TRAINING
FINANCIAL MISCONDUCT
RESOURCES
GALLERY OF
BRITISH BUNNIES
THE HISTORY OF THE PLAYBOY
BUNNY
SITE MAP |
|
|
FINANCIAL MISCONDUCT
For the
British Bunnies who survived into the 1970s, there was the consolation
of the decade's immensely generous, oil-rich Arabs. But things weren't
what they had been - more and more of the Bunnies were disobeying the
rules and going out with guests, trysts often arranged (for substantial
sums) by the club doormen.
It couldn't last and it didn't. The Playboy life claimed its casualties
in London - at least one suicide and one still unsolved murder - but the
most damaging calamity to hit the now-ailing Hefner empire occurred in
the United States. In 1980, Dorothy Stratten - the first Playmate tipped
for Hollywood stardom - was murdered by her rejected husband in the most
brutal and squalid of circumstances.
Simultaneously the Playboy Club in London was assailed by rumours of
financial misconduct, and the British Gaming Board moved in to
investigate. Lownes became a sacrificial victim, fired by his old friend
Hugh Hefner who then refused to answer Victor's telephone calls. Hefner
had his reasons, albeit cynical ones. Almost all of the profits of the
Playboy empire came from Britain. If Hefner lost these, Playboy would
collapse. But in 1981 Playboy's gaming licence was revoked, and the club
was closed down. Hefner's empire did survive, but by branching out into
book publishing and, in the 1990s, into cable and satellite television.
The clubs were dead.
It was the end of an era. And it was ten years before Hefner and Lownes
spoke to each other again.
Next:
RESOURCES
This article copyright of www.channel4.co.uk. |
|
The gaming licence was revoked and the Playboy Club closed down |
|
|
