Playboy Mansion Butler and House DJ: The Early 80's: He was "The Golden Butler"

Introduction to Mitch Rosen and his Playboy Mansion experience

SPEAKER_01: Hi, my name is Karina Harney, Playboy's Playmate of the Year, 1992. And I'm Echo Johnson, Miss January, 1993.

SPEAKER_03: Welcome to the Bunny Chronicles. Let's go. Welcome back to the show. We're coming at you today with another good one. We know how much y'all love the Butlers. So we're going back to the early 80s. We have Mitch Rosen with us today. And we've been trying to get Mitch on the show for a minute. So this is gonna be a really good show. Before we start, thank you to our audience for following, liking, subscribing. Please leave a comment down below if there's anything in particular you want to know about.

SPEAKER_03: So Mitch Rosen was at the Playboy Mansion from 1983 to 1989. And these were the years of Carrie Lee, which I would say was probably one of Hef's more prolific relationships, and one that was often described as difficult. So I'm happy that we're gonna be able to delve into that. A quote from Mitch: I've lived a life that's taken me through some of the most fascinating corners of American pop culture. A career that has taken Mitch from one of the world's most famous private estates to the heart of the Los Angeles music scene, and ultimately into a lifelong career in hospitality where he finds himself today.

SPEAKER_03: Mitch has been the recipient of many certifications, awards, and recognition, English and French wine spectator award recipient, and the five diamond award recipient for 2000, 2001, and 2003 in Condonas Traveler. That's awesome. But yay, your father also owned the legendary Sneaky Pete's, which was a very like well-known, successful restaurant, supper club, speakeasy as well.

Mitch Rosen's background and early career

SPEAKER_03: And it was a fixture on the iconic sunset strip throughout the 60s and the 70s. So I would say it was in your blood that you got into the hospitality industry. Something that was really interesting, Mitch, that I saw in your resume, and I was like, my mouth fell wide open. I'm from Santa Fe, New Mexico. That's where I grew up. A lot of burger, green chili cheeseburgers, and you were the area manager for a lot of burger at like what? So welcome to the show, Mitch.

SPEAKER_00: First of all, thank you both for having me. And I'm so thrilled to be here. Finally, I wish I could hug you both. So so happy to be here. Can I tell you how I got the job at the mansion? We'll start there.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah, of course. No, we don't want to hear how you started at the mansion. So, all right, so you were at the mansion in the early 80s. So you started in in 83 then correct.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I had a friend of a friend who worked at the mansion. His name was Ron Johnstone. He asked me if I do you want to work at the mansion. I go, Are you kidding me? The Playboy mansion? Yeah, of course. So next thing I know is I have an interview with Guy and interview with him, and he says, Mitch, when can you start? And he put me on mornings first, and then ultimately I moved to swing shifts. So got the job. And before that, I did a couple uh like New Year's Eve party, I did a Midsummer Night's Dream Party, and then he said, I guess somebody left or got laid off or whatever, but they said, Mitch, I need you to work permanently.

SPEAKER_00: I says, I'm in. I I mean, I'm not gonna pass this up.

SPEAKER_02: For our listeners, the Midsummer Nights Dream Parties were probably one of the most iconic party you could ever attend. Everyone's in their pajamas and his lingerie. Yeah, and it was very whimsical and beautiful and sexy and had a shrimp tower like Ronda like Rhonda was talking about. I always loved the chocolate-covered strawberries.

First days at the Playboy Mansion and iconic parties

SPEAKER_02: Like I would have that and champagne, but you would see celebrities in their pajamas. There is nowhere else in the world. And you know, now everyone has pajama parties. No one had that. No one didn't.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah, they totally copied that from from a thousand prices. For sure. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: So I I started at working a couple parties, New Year's Eve party and a midsummer nights. And then guys said, I need you to work permanently. And I I just said, I'm here, I'm yours. Nice. And that's that's when it began.

SPEAKER_02: What was your impression? I I just want to take our listeners back to this young. How old were you?

SPEAKER_00: Yeah. Twenty-four, and I had more hair.

SPEAKER_02: You had more hair, audience. No, but but 24. Here you are, 24, wet behind the ears, and your very first introduction, as you will, to Playboy was the Midsummer Night's Dream party.

SPEAKER_03: The lingerie part.

SPEAKER_02: Yes. And and I imagine there were some celebrities of the day in the pajamas. And that must have been very interesting. Due to what did you feel like? Go.

SPEAKER_00: So so just to answer what you're you're asking, Miss Karina, I uh so I was born and raised in Beverly Hills. So for me, it kind of didn't jade me. So I kind of, you know, growing up in under my father's restaurant and seeing a lot of celebrities. And sure, you know, Johnny Carson was a partner of my father's back in the day. So I I had a a good glimpse of celebrities, and I it just it was like normal to me, believe it or not. And and I took it as such. I mean, they're just like you and I. We're I, you know, I like how we're talking.

SPEAKER_00: So had a lot of encounterings with celebrities. And when I reached the mansion, I I mean, I was kind of blown away. It's like, wow, I've never done this before. And I thrilled to be and given the opportunity not only to work for Mr. Hefner, to be a part of that and start my way, start my journey.

SPEAKER_03: That that's actually interesting. I like that history, and I thought about that when I read that your father had that super famous iconic supper club. Oh, so you definitely had been around that vibe.

SPEAKER_02: The question is, having been around so many iconic human beings as wander the hills of the Beverly Beverly Hills. I I imagine it I always say have had the best parties ever, but I didn't have anything to compare it to like you. I didn't grow up in Beverly Hills, I grew up in the streets of Las Vegas. What was what was your impression as far as you know, being in Beverly Hills? Was it a different side that you didn't know existed, or or was it just no big deal because you always went to parties just like half?

SPEAKER_00: Well, there were a lot more fun and an opportunity to I I had gone to a lot of the Beverly Hills parties. I mean, there were so many of them, but I think this was, you know, as as I was working these parties, I just had so much fun. I I just, you know, uh you see, you would see so many things. I mean, I it would take five shows to get into exactly what I all saw. And I'm gonna be very courteous and polite, but uh I saw a lot of things go on, great things, interesting things, but it felt, I don't know, it felt normal to me for for some reason.

Memories of Hefner and mansion safety

SPEAKER_00: Because like I said, growing up in Beverly Hills, I I thought that I I had seen everything, but when I got to the mansion, I understood that this was a different show, right? And uh I just I I was like a sponge, but I was so much fun, so much fun.

SPEAKER_02: Did you ever feel like you ever feel unsafe there and like it was awful? And did you were trapped? Did you feel trapped and like the girls were afraid? Did they seem did they seem terrified for their life?

SPEAKER_00: No, they they also had fun. I mean, you know, and we had a sense of family there, you know. Butlers for me, we like we wanted to protect the playmates. Anything that we saw, we we were when they used to come in and you know to the Mediterranean room, which is the breakfast room, and then or or the the great wherever are they staying on the property, brand new playmates and this and that. And I I'm getting to my points. We were all uh just a family, uh, you know, when I was there. And that transparent to to even further into the you know the 90s and the and the 2000s, etc. But I I was fine.

SPEAKER_00: I mean, I didn't I wasn't afraid. I mean, I guess because I like I said, I was born in Beverly Hills, so I understood I would I wasn't afraid of anything. I had I just you know, and I was the guy, I mean, I I don't want to say this in front, well, I was Butler of the Year, right?

SPEAKER_03: I mean, uh everybody just did you even know that was a congratulation.

SPEAKER_00: No, no, I mean back then, yeah, you know, I I just was everybody wanted to make sure that either I waited on them or I was there, you know. We just it was that kind of vibe, you know, and but I was never afraid. I was I just had fun, you know, and even Mr. Hefner, I I think when I first met it, I met him. Well, when I first I guess dropped off his peanut butter and jelly sandwich at 3 p.m. in the afternoon with Lay's potato chips, that if you had any bruise marks on the potato chips, he would say, I need another set of chips.

SPEAKER_00: And of course, yes, sir, you know, run away. He intimidated me the first time I had actually had that moment with him. But other than that, because he was good to me, and we'll get into that as well. Just no, the answer to the question, I'm sorry I'm blabbling here, but you're getting me excited.

SPEAKER_02: Well, you're here to blabber, so please do. We want to hear all of it.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that that's so true too. We always love to ask about anybody really who I worked with in the mansion, like, what was it like the first time you met Huff? I mean, right down to the playmates, you know, it's always that awestruck moment, like, oh my god, it's Hugh Hefner, you know. I think you were surprised at the end of the day of how he was and how he was to you and when you had his like attention. And I do know from what you sent me, that handwritten letter from him, which we're gonna put up during the video, butlers didn't get that Mitch.

SPEAKER_03: That's very cool. And I know you have some personal stories about that. So I want to get into Carrie Lee. So let's do tell. So they were together for five years, right?

Stories about Carrie Leigh and her relationship with Hefner

SPEAKER_00: So Carrie ran the household, and I I loved Carrie Lee. I I just and I was her uh here I go again. But she I was her favorite because again, if she called down and asked for order lunch or or whatever.

SPEAKER_02: Let's tell our listeners who don't know who Carrie Lee is.

SPEAKER_00: Who she's so Carrie Lee was Hef's girlfriend for about five and a half years during my my experience at the mansion.

SPEAKER_03: And for Shannon Tweed, because Shannon had left, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: Correct. And then before that was Sandra Theodore, right? I I believe. Right. Yeah, so so Carrie was she was the the woman of the of the of of the mansion and interesting person, very interesting. Um she just enjoyed everyone. But if she didn't like you You knew it. You knew it, and she made sure, and there's a lot of butlers and or you know, that she just didn't feel comfortable talking to. Um I mean, I used to take her around, and you know, I know you had you had John on recently, and and I I know that he was he was also a driver.

SPEAKER_00: John was one of the butlers uh JD JD, yeah, who started just after I did, and I I love him too, fantastic.

SPEAKER_03: Oh, that's yeah, that's cool. That's right. You guys would have worked together, yeah. JD.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, his story is interesting as well. Nonetheless, Carrie Lee was, as I said, very interesting. But if if if she didn't like you, you would know about it. And Carrie and I had this kind of, I don't know, it was it was a really good rapport with each other because again, she didn't feel comfortable talking to most, but when she did talk to you, you you had to listen and you had to do what she said. And, you know, look, I was there to protect, you know, everyone, but my job was to make sure that Mr. Hefner was taken care of.

SPEAKER_00: Number one. I mean, years ago when he had, you know, his Pepsi, or you know, out on the if he's taking a walk or if he didn't have one, I always you you have to beeline it to get to him and give him a Pepsi. Or if he liked a Roman Coke, whatever it was, he was number one. We took care of him. We also took care of all the guests that used to come up, whether it's Jimmy Kahn or Tony Curtis or Magic Johnson or Robin Williams. I mean, they're the playmates. Anything and everything we take care of him.

SPEAKER_00: But Hep was number one.

SPEAKER_03: Oh, well, since you were there until 89, you were there then when Kimberly Conrad came in as a playmate. Cool. Okay. That just hit me. Okay, awesome. Okay.

SPEAKER_00: Kimberly was also a little different. The the house was run a little differently when she was there. But those were my last years of uh a butler at the mansion. It's funny, I recently saw her, I would say uh maybe 10 years after that, I was rollerblading on in Venice and I saw her and she actually stopped to say hello. I I didn't even I didn't recognize her, but she said hello. Yeah, I didn't recognize her.

SPEAKER_03: Wow.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean she looked great, but I it's like Kimberly?

SPEAKER_03: She's the best. I love her.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, she's she's awesome. And I I also I I believe that I met Marshton and Cooper. They were little toddlers. Little toddlers.

SPEAKER_02: Could have been with her, I bet.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: Crazy.

SPEAKER_03: That's cool that she stopped you. Yeah, she was always an absolute sweetheart. Now, for our audience, Carrie Lee was never a playmate. How did her and Hef even come to be? She was this absolutely gorgeous, stunning jet black hair, green eyes, tall, thin, like very different than any other woman Hef had been with.

SPEAKER_00: So she, first of all, she we she's from Toronto. She's Canadian. Okay. And she came to a, I don't know if it was a Midsummer Nights or a New Year's Eve party, and she was introduced to Hef. I would say Hef. I miss her Hefner. I always give him respect. Always. So they had met and it just, I guess it began. I think he started courting her and she just became like one of us fixtures, right? And it it just it just began. But you know, she had a she had a class tour.

SPEAKER_04: Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: That that I, you know, and and I I think Kemberly also had another she also had a class, but they had different kind of a class, right? Sure. And something that I really, really I just fantastic. I I I really liked Carrie. We just had so much fun.

SPEAKER_03: I like to hear that because I've heard different things, you know, from whether it's playmates or butlers and people saying toxic or difficult or whatever. But I mean, it can only be taken at face value. You had a great relationship with her. So you had a great experience with her, you know. Other people may or may not have, and that's the it's like Karina always says there's two truths, you know. It's like you have your personal experience, and then it's what somebody else had, you know.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, two things can be true. Yeah, and yeah, it's interesting. I Canadian women I know he loves being his Canadian. Shannon Tweed is one, you know.

SPEAKER_03: There's Pamela Anderson, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: Canadian women are special then.

SPEAKER_03: Kimberly Conrad.

SPEAKER_02: Canadians, we're gonna pay our homage to Canadian women right now, in this moment.

SPEAKER_00: You're darn right.

SPEAKER_03: So you were the house DJ. I I never knew that that's super cool.

Music, DJing, and entertainment at the mansion

SPEAKER_00: Yes, I was. And what happened there was, and also Carrie Lee was responsible for that as well. So I I I owe her homage for that. I mean, it's un yeah. I mean, okay, so I guess there were there was a DJ that was there, and he would she, I think it was he, yeah, he was terrible. I mean, he didn't make the copy.

SPEAKER_02: Let's get into the 80s music because that is my love. Love, love, love. So, what was the music that you played as DJ? What would like bring us back to the 80s at the mansion?

SPEAKER_00: So I uh, and this is gonna, I mean, there's so many, so many stories here. I met a uh music executive. He I got him up to the mansion, and uh I introduced him to Melinda Mays. Do you remember Melinda Mays? She was uh 19, I think she was eight, uh, she was 83. She was a playmate. Uh the best. So anyway, introduced them. They they started dating, but fat uh backwards, uh, his name was Ken Commissar. So Ken came up to the mansion. We entered I and when I was DJing, and I had a partner with me. His name was Todd.

SPEAKER_00: So we used to DJ the house at the mansion among other parties in in in and around Beverly Hills and Los Angeles and clubs and et cetera. But so I got I got that, but before that, um the music I used to play, Karina, I like video killed the I just everything and anything. I did some underground music too because I wanted to be a little different.

SPEAKER_04: Yes, nice.

SPEAKER_00: So, you know, like heavens like Heaven 17, you know, uh like you know, Culture Club, even though they got kind of poppy, you know. Yeah, obviously Wham and and uh you know the cure and uh you know New Order and Yeah, it's a new order. Yeah the cure you know, I mean, and I had this mobile system, which I'm I think I sent you a photo, but uh I just we we were great. I mean we were so good. I mean people yeah and this is and you know we I didn't even have to audition.

SPEAKER_02: That's before there were also DJs now. I mean, you were way ahead of your time there.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah. Think about that to have a mobile system and you're going around Hollywood, like playing events, and you're the main DJ at the mansion. That's super cool, Mitch.

SPEAKER_00: I got a lot of girlfriends doing that, I'm telling you.

SPEAKER_02: He was so cute. Do you see the pictures of him?

SPEAKER_00: My hair.

SPEAKER_02: He's still cute, darling. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: Thanks for the pick-me-up, Karina.

SPEAKER_02: No, no, hey, you still got it. You still got it.

SPEAKER_00: Loved every minute of it. Um, but it again, so much fun and and opportunity. And you know, look, Hef could have said easily, you know, I don't like, I don't like this music. Or I don't, but Carrie kept pushing, you know, she she so she got me to I I I did like four or five midsummer nights, and I did New Year's Eve, and I did a Playmate of the Year. Uh actually did three Playmate of the Years, uh, Kathy Showers, Donna Edmondson, and Karen Velez.

SPEAKER_03: Nice.

SPEAKER_00: And uh also in Beverly Hills Cop 2. I don't know if you you two remember, but they filmed, they filmed Beverly Hills Cop 2 at the mansion by the pool. Yeah. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02: I remember that. So now we have to look back. Everyone's gonna have to look back and see Mitch doing the DJ thing in the mansion backyard, being, you know, playing himself. How interesting is that? With hair. Yeah. I'm just part of the ambiance.

SPEAKER_03: That's super cool.

SPEAKER_00: I mean, we're in the background, you'd have to freeze frame it, but thank you, Karina. But it was uh a great experience, obviously. Eddie Murphy and you know, that whole entourage, and you know, Mr. Hefner and Carrie were in in the uh the film. And I was asked to do that with my partner, and we we we were off to the corner, but it was it was so cool. I mean, everybody was there. It was it was like a two-day shoot. And it was Tony Scott was the uh the director who sadly passed away years ago, but it just was a great experience.

SPEAKER_00: It was so much fun. I just started my way. I mean, I built I was building my resume, you know, as I was spinning records.

SPEAKER_03: And it was after that you went into the music industry with a division of uh Warner Brothers and what was it, Choppel? I have it somewhere.

SPEAKER_00: That's correct. It's uh it was Windswept Pacific, a music publishing company. They also had catalog music. Uh was also uh like professional managers and song pluggers. You know, you'd pitch songs to artists.

SPEAKER_04: Right.

SPEAKER_00: Like you would pitch a song from the catalog to like Eric Clapton, and then Eric Clapton would say, Okay, I want it, and then he we'd sell it to him. And but my role was uh an AR. So I would try to just to sign bands in uh local bands in LA in and around the clubs.

SPEAKER_03: Was it when you left the mansion? So early nineties?

SPEAKER_00: Yes, thank you. It was when I left the mansion and then I went right into the music uh And was that connection from Playboy then?

SPEAKER_02: Your music connection came from Playboy. Interesting, okay, and then now we have to know the big bands that you signed.

SPEAKER_03: Are you sure you saw Motley Crue and all of that happening and evolving on the Sunset Strip because it was higher, right?

SPEAKER_00: True Quiet Riot and and Rat.

Celebrity stories: Tony Curtis, Marilyn Monroe, and more

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and Rat, yeah, you know, and and was a great white. And I mean, all those bands were the the glam bands, but I was more in I was more into because as we were getting into the grunge, I was more into like those kind of bands. And so uh I got a chance to hear four non-blondes, which is was headed by Linda Perry, who writes, who wrote for Pink. She's brilliant. So she was at the Coconut Teaser, which is a local rock and roll, it's like the Whiskey of Go-Go or the Roxy on Sunset Boulevard. So she was playing, and we all knew about it.

SPEAKER_00: It was an industry thing, right? So we all went to the coconut teaser and I I heard her song, What's Up? And this is before she was signed with anybody. I went right up to her and I says, I need to have lunch with you and the band, because I had an expense account with who I was with, the company I was with, to try to sign bands. So I went up to her and I said, I need to get you signed. We need to talk. So I got we could exchange numbers and everything like that. And then two days later, she was signed to BMG, which is RCA Records.

SPEAKER_01: Oh my god, no way.

SPEAKER_00: How's that for a letdown? So she was signed. Yeah, she was really, really nice. She was just a she was just a nice, and I knew she had she just had that spark in her eye that you knew she was going to be successful.

SPEAKER_03: I didn't know I didn't realize that she wrote songs for Pink. Pink is one of my most favorite artists of all time. That's interesting background.

SPEAKER_00: I was instrumental in signing a band called uh well, they they started out a name of Far Cry, but then they became Sun60 and signed to Epic Records back, I think it was 91 or 90. And I brought it to Epic Records attention, which is that gentleman I said, Ken Commissar, who I was friendly with, who I introduced him to Melinda, and uh that's history, but uh he swept her up. He swept her up.

SPEAKER_02: Thank you.

SPEAKER_00: Thank you. Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_02: Oh my god, seeing it at karaoke every single Wednesday. That's so true.

SPEAKER_00: Wednesday karaoke, that's right, Irina.

SPEAKER_03: Mitch, you have to tell us you have to have several fantastic celebrity stories, but like one or two that stick out in your brain at the mansion. Tell us.

SPEAKER_00: I do. I have a Tony Curtis story, which is just Oh, I love this. This is, I mean, look, this one just hits home hard because I loved Tony Curtis. The man was charming and he was so sweet and he was so funny too. So I'm I'm running the the pantry, which is the heartbeat of the mansion. Uh uh it was uh, I don't know, midweek or so, and I'm the only one in the pantry because uh it it became it was dinner time. So Tony comes up, I get a call, and every time we got a call from security, they we'd always have to edit enter it into the black book.

SPEAKER_00: We all know what the black book is, but for those viewers, yeah.

SPEAKER_03: For the viewers, I want to say two things, and they've heard the butlers talk about the pantry. So the pantry was literally the pantry, it was between the kitchen and the two dining rooms. There was the main hall, big dining area, and then there was the med room, and that's where all the playmates would hang out too with the pla with the butlers, even though we were told do not fraternize, but it was the heartbeat of the mansion. That's where all the calls came through for security, the black book.

SPEAKER_03: Go on, Mitch.

SPEAKER_00: Absolutely. You hit it right on the on the nose, Echo. I, I, uh we so we had to enter everybody's name, so it was documented. Okay, so Tony comes up, he comes into the pantry, and I'm whatever I'm doing, cleaning or or setting up for whatever. And Tony says he'd like to have dinner. And I said, Absolutely, sir. What what kind of what would you like? He says, Well, I want a steak and and then a salad. And then he said to me, he says, Mitch, would you can you join me in the in the dining room? And I I looked and I said, Well, Tony, I, you know, I can't.

SPEAKER_00: I I you know, I gotta, I gotta listen for the phone because if Mr. Hefner calls down, I've got to be available. Sorry. Because two rings, you gotta have that right there. So, so I told Tony, I said, Tony, look, I can stand at the doorway uh between the dining room and the the uh pantry, but that's about all I can do. So anyway, fast forward, he gets his meal, he's in the dining room. So he says to me, he says, uh, you know, Mitch, how long have you been working here? So I told him and this and that, and he knew this, but he was, I don't know, he was looking to talk to somebody.

SPEAKER_00: So then he says to me, he says, Mitch, did you ever see the movie Some Like It Hot? And I says, Well, yeah, I mean that that's with you and and Jack Lemon and Marilyn Monroe, right? And he said to me, he says, Yeah, yeah. He says, Did I ever tell you the story about Marilyn Monroe? I says, No, Tony, you didn't, because why would you be telling me? So he said to me, This is this is a true story. So he says to me, he says to me, he says, Well, Mitch, I don't know if you knew this, but you know, Marilyn and I had a fling.

SPEAKER_00: I said, Okay, my my mouth kind of dropped. And I, it's like, is he really telling me this? So I I said, okay. He said, but Mitch, you know, as we were getting it on and we were we were going out and this and that, and he says, but that's not the the tip of the iceberg.

The story of Hefner's kindness and personal moments

SPEAKER_00: He says that Jack Lemon had a temper tantrine on the set because he was in love with Mary. He wanted to go out with her. True, true story.

SPEAKER_02: Well, you the chemistry with Tony Curtis and her with all of them was undeniable. That's still I could watch that's a movie I can watch over and over. The chemistry between the three of them that makes sense.

SPEAKER_03: Cool that he told you that. Wow.

SPEAKER_00: I mean, I mean, I I told him, I says, you know, Mr. Curtis, I said, I'm gonna take this all the way to the grave because I can't except for now because now he's gone and it counts.

SPEAKER_02: I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER_00: He he was a true gem. I mean, honestly. And I was the only one, see, it it there was nobody else around. It was just me and maybe two or three cooks, you know, by the kitchen, but nobody could.

SPEAKER_02: I mean, nobody like he wanted to get that off of his chest, like he wanted to share that.

SPEAKER_00: I I I was I I was dumbfounded. I could not believe it. I just like, whoa. And then after he told me, and I and I went into the pantry and you know the the door shut, my my face lit up like a Christmas tree. I couldn't believe he told me this. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02: And he's one of the I always say Tony Curtis was he was so talented and multifaceted in his craft, and no one saw the tip of the iceberg for that man. I really believe it. I don't think he got all of the roles that even showed uh a little bit of his talent, which very true.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, or you know, he was an artist. He painted.

SPEAKER_04: Oh wow, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: I actually ran into him in Las Vegas, like maybe 10 years after at Caesar's Palace with my mom. I don't even know if the form shops were even open, but we we were walking, I said, Mom, that's Tony Curtis. And I and I went up to him, I said, Tony, how you doing? And he was just so gracious. He it was very sweet to my mom, and it just was really cool, really cool.

SPEAKER_02: Now I have a side question here. You were on Secrets of Playboy.

SPEAKER_03: That's right.

SPEAKER_02: So I just I really want, I think our audience especially might be interested in how the interview went.

SPEAKER_03: Did they twist it around what you said? They totally for bringing that up.

SPEAKER_02: Sound bites or what? I want to know.

SPEAKER_00: So I was so edited in that. Yeah. And uh and they were really good. And they they tricked me. Yeah. I mean, it's that was all BS. I'm actually disappointed that I actually did that. That's why I didn't even bring it up to you, but I'm more than happy to. It was twisted.

SPEAKER_03: I mean, it was it was uh I mean Well, I mean, like we could we could all tell from because it was right when they were doing the secrets of Playboy that I started coming up with the idea to do the show, and we were actually actively getting our our first guest, and I'll never forget getting that phone call from Alexandra, the producer.

SPEAKER_02: Well, she had produced such a good documentary, Echo and I both were having a lot of things.

SPEAKER_03: Right, that we were like, oh my God, I love what she's like up to. But I knew by the end of that conversation, because it was nothing but positive and how it changed my life. And she's like, Well, were there any like weird stories or like any negatives? And I was like, No, what are you talking about? Echo was amazing. Like you could tell right then and there, I was like, This bitch is up to something.

SPEAKER_02: I mean, did they call you first or me first? I forget, but who they called all of them? We both did the same thing, Echo and I knew we were being baited. I could I could hear it. I was being baited, and I was not happy about that in the first place. And they were doing the same thing, Echo. They kept saying, Well, what about and they were asking me about other people like that I knew, like Tiffany Sloan. Like somehow Playboy was the reason for her death. And these are people I know and love. And Stephanie.

SPEAKER_02: I'm like, why are I know these people? Why are you telling me about these people? I know them, and that's not true. The best time of Tiffany Sloan's life was during Playboy. It gave her a life she wouldn't have otherwise had and was happiest in her life. So I I was like, no, that's not true. So I knew right away. I said, no, I decline. Thanks. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03: No, it was wrong. So they took they totally took you and your interview and they chopped it to pieces and made it look like something else.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and honestly, I I am as I said, I'm disappointed that they even I mean, they reached out to me. I mean, I'm not I don't even know how they found me, you know. I mean, there's people that I know and I'm still friendly with, you know, as I as I mentioned to you both. And I kind of stay in an inner circle, like uh, you know, I keep it really small, and I don't know how they they discovered and they found me, but um it was totally twisted and they yeah, it it just was something like blah, you know, yeah, you know, it just more and more we're finding, and and I don't know, maybe that's it it's okay to be honest.

SPEAKER_02: I like honesty, I like truth. I don't like when things are skewed, and it scares me because there are quite a few things that are produced so well and they look so good and they're so entertaining. And I mean, there are millions of people watching and they're making millions.

Reflections on Hefner's legacy and personal words

SPEAKER_02: And it what makes me very sad is when they skew truth and it makes you realize what can you believe anymore? Like what can you believe? Because it and and people always want to get on a side or and it's so dark and ugly, and that would have hurt Hef because he was very protective of everyone, and and it's the opposite of what you get from that. It hurt all of us. And I call us a family, and people you know, then you'll have people that say, Oh, it's like a weird cult. No, it was really like a nice family that was a family, it was an iconic empire only in America, and and it's very sad because all of us that knew have and knew each other, and everyone I am not hands down, everyone that Echo and I meet, like yourself, having you on, have nothing but wonderful things to say.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah. So and it's a thank God we've done this show, Mitch, because it finally we're five years in and people are are really just starting to discover it. You know, we've we have done really well with like audio downloads around the world, our YouTube channel just monetized, and people are now starting to see a whole other perspective. And they're like, Oh my god, thank you. Like, this is out of the horse's mouth. These are firsthand accounts of what it really was, and they're like, more people need to listen to this, you know, because it's nothing but a positive experience for everybody, you know, except the three girlfriends that are like mad because they weren't playmates or whatever, you know, it's bizarre.

SPEAKER_02: But it's a stain, and we don't want to stain on something or on ourselves. Because think about that, Mitch. That's a reflection of you. Why would you go into a place where you're, you know, why would I have posed for a magazine if it was I had to sleep with them or you know, I we all have our own things, but it's my when you hear someone lie, I want to call that out because it not that I have to defend my character, but it's all of us. It's the empire. It's yeah, it's like, no, it wasn't hashtag me too for everyone.

SPEAKER_02: Sorry, it wasn't. It was a very pretty everyone was taken care of in every capacity that they worked for Hef and took something away that was positive.

SPEAKER_03: And and and you know what Karina always says, and it's so true, uh, that if Hefner was this monster that they claim him to be, that shit would have come out decades and decades before. There's no way that company would have been no one spoke up until he died. No one spoke up. It's like, okay, he's dead right there. Yeah. Free game.

SPEAKER_00: So just to piggyback it, I I totally agree with both of you. Uh, first of all, it's it's about editing, it's also about those evil, evil people that that were a part of this. And we all know who they are. I don't have to mention their names, I'm not gonna give them air time. But the idea is that they're the karma's gonna get them many, many, many other ways. And uh he was very positive with me. And I I need to tell you a story that that that happened with he came to my birthday. I've got to tell you that story because it's fantastic.

SPEAKER_00: This guy, I mean, and also when I worked at Planta Hollywood in Beverly Hills, how he came and found me through Mary O'Connor to visit me and to for me to give him a tour. I mean Wow. I mean, I'm just I'm just Mitch Rosen. I mean, you know, this man, I mean, you know, class, he was my he was my a mentor to me. And, you know, he was he was definitely ahead of his time. Those are the three words that I want to say about him because I loved him. I really did. And I miss him.

SPEAKER_04: Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: Okay, so let me tell you that story. I'm gonna make it is I'm gonna make it quick. And I love you guys too, by the way. I love you guys. So uh so uh Carrie comes down to the pantry, and I'm working, it's a shift that I'm working, and it's my birthday that day. Leo. So Carrie comes down to the uh pantry, and I I I don't know, we were just small talking and it was kind of busy. There was a couple other butlers in in in and around, and she said to me, I said to her, I said, you know, it's my birthday today, and uh I'm gonna go out with a couple of the butlers, and we're gonna go over to the hard rock in in LA later on tonight.

SPEAKER_00: And she goes, Well, what time? I says, I don't know, maybe eight or nine. I don't know. And I I told her, I says, you know, I'd love to have you, you and Hef join us, right? So fast forward, we are at I'm at the Hard Rock with, I don't know, maybe six or seven, maybe eight at the most. There's butlers there, and there's I don't think John was there, but there was a few of us that were there. So I somehow, one of the butlers had shown up, a butler named Jerry, Jerry Fowler, and he had said that, I don't know if you know this, Mitch, but and we're all sitting down at the hard rock, and it's noisy and crazy.

SPEAKER_00: So he says, I don't know if you know this, but I think Hef's on his way here. And I'm going, What? So sure enough, as soon as he says this, I look to the front door of the Hard Rock Cafe in West Hollywood by the Beverly Center, and there's Hef, there's Carrie. So anyway, they made their way over to the table, and I immediately got up and I said to Mr. Hefner, I said, Mr. Heftner, can I get you a rum and coke? That's exactly what I said to him. And I and and he said to me, he goes, Mitch, sit down.

The impact of the mansion on Mitch Rosen’s life

SPEAKER_00: What can I get for you? Happy birthday. I swear to God, that's what he said. I couldn't believe it. I mean, who am I? I'm just I'm who am I? Why have why does he what I couldn't believe it?

SPEAKER_02: He cared because he cared. He had a giant part. That's it.

SPEAKER_00: But he didn't, but he never went to any other butler. I mean, I I couldn't believe this. But you were the special butler.

SPEAKER_02: Look, I was having Mitch Rosen.

SPEAKER_00: The chosen one.

SPEAKER_03: The chosen butler. I love that he asked what he could get you. That is wonderful. That's what the letter is from. I'm gonna read the letter. Yeah. Yes, yes, echo. Read. And then I'll put it up on the screen for our um audience. Uh so this is directly from Hef, January 18th. Dear Mitch, thanks for the tour of Planet Hollywood and the jacket as well. Closing a taped documentary that you may already have, but it is one you may want to share with a friend. Best wishes Hef, Hugh M. Hefner. That is so cool.

SPEAKER_03: So thankful. Yeah, that's amazing. I love it.

SPEAKER_00: He's unbelievable, man. Just unbelievable. I mean, I would say I was a manager of Planta Hollywood. I opened five restaurants with him, and one of them was Beverly Heels because I that was where I was born and raised. So I opened Planta Hollywood. Fast forward. So somehow, somehow, do you remember Mr. Richard Rosenswag? Does that ring a bell?

SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Dick Rosenswag, of course.

SPEAKER_00: Thank you. So he came in one day and had lunch, and I we said low because he was the what West Coast PR, if I'm not mistaken. I've forgotten.

SPEAKER_03: Cut.

SPEAKER_00: So he got a hold of Mary. Mary got a hold of me, and Mary said, I want, I want to bring Hef to Planet Hollywood because we had a we had a theater at that Planet Hollywood. We had a game room. So we had a lot of little things that he wanted to see, right? So I said, sure, bring him. Let me know when he's coming. So sure enough, Mr. Hefter comes down. He was with security. He came in and I gave him a tour. We had lunch. He asked me to sit with him. Now then I could sit with him because it was different.

SPEAKER_00: So we just small talked. And the first thing I said to him when he when he came up, I said, Do you remember me? He says, I do. I do remember you. And I was I again, I was I was shocked. He goes, you know, he's a busy man. He has a lot, he had a lot going on in his in his world, right? So anyway, he had a great time. I presented him with a jacket. We we had it on, we took photos and this and that. And because Planta Hollywood had a PR department, so we had to make sure that whoever came into Planta Hollywood celebrity-wise, was on the so-called newsletter.

SPEAKER_00: So he left, and of course, a week or so later he sent me that that letter. Unbelievable. Just lovely.

SPEAKER_02: Wow. Yeah. Cherish that.

SPEAKER_00: I cherish that.

SPEAKER_02: That was who he was. He didn't he didn't forget a thing. He had a photographic memory. It's unbelievable the capacity he had for his generosity in thinking of others. It's beautiful. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: What a human being. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03: Echo. Oh my gosh. Karina, I can't think of any other any other mansion staff that we've spoken to that have had encounters like Mitch had with Half. Can you?

SPEAKER_02: No, no. Not he's the golden butler. I wish he had waited on me. I would have ordered a milkshake from you, Mitch. That would have been at 2 a.m. Hi, can you bring me a milkshake?

SPEAKER_00: Yes. I would have said yes, and I would have been there.

SPEAKER_02: All of the playmates, I all of us I know that was just a treat. I never had a butler. And so it was butlers.

SPEAKER_03: It's anything you wanted at any time, 24 hours.

SPEAKER_02: It was we have stories, which I'm sure you have stories with playmates. I teased him. I would set up traps, dump water on his head. I mean, we were, I was childish anyway. Yeah, butlers, the butlers. We love the butlers. We had the butlers. We love the butlers and hef loved the butlers, clearly. And you had, yeah, so you couldn't just be a butler. It was a process.

SPEAKER_00: No, a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02: He was a good judge of character, absolutely. And yeah.

SPEAKER_00: I mean, to this day, to this day, it's the longest job that I've ever had. I mean, that I mean, that's almost nine years. Eight and a half, nine years. I mean, I that I mean, even, you know, yeah, I mean, come on.

SPEAKER_03: You loved it. I mean, that that's that's one thing that has stuck out, Mitch, on every interview we've had with Playboy employees, whether it was corporate or Playboy Mansion staff. The amount of years that people stayed in their positions spoke speaks volumes to who who Q Hefner was and to Playboy. They loved working for that company and they stayed for a long time.

SPEAKER_00: There'll never be anybody like Mr. Hefner, I'm telling you.

SPEAKER_03: Never ever.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: We're so, I mean, blessed to have been a part of it. And it's just, it's so fun reconnecting with everybody. So, on that note, as you know, we like to finish the show with two questions. You said you already had your three words, but I'm gonna ask you again. So, three words that define Hugh Hefner to you.

Final thoughts on Hugh Hefner and the mansion experience

SPEAKER_00: Class. A class act. I mean, the man had so much class, just class. And then the other one is he he was a mentor of mine. He was just a mentor. And I I always felt that he was ahead of his time. He just speaks loudly.

SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I agree. He was ahead of his time. Um had you had the opportunity to say anything to him before he passed or a memoriam, what would you say?

SPEAKER_00: Don't go yet. Don't go. Don't go.

SPEAKER_03: I love that.

SPEAKER_00: Too much, too much, too much. Don't go.

SPEAKER_03: I love that. Nobody has said that. I know. Wow. That brings tears to my eyes. I love that. Aw. Yeah, we we he's so missed. We all talk about it. Well, thank you so much, Mitch. What an honor to have another wonderful butler on the show. And great story about Marilyn Monroe and some Like It Hot. And oh my god, Tony Curtis and Don Lemon. That's great. Not Don Lemon, I just say Don Lemon. Whatever.

SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter. Echo. We all know who you're talking about.

SPEAKER_03: Yes. What a fun interview. Well, thank you, doll. We appreciate it to our audience. Thank you so much for all the love, support. Continue to stay tuned. We have so many more shows coming. We have so many, just a plethora of guests that want to come on the show. And we are so excited to be able to bring it to you. So please like, subscribe, follow, leave a comment down below, and we will see y'all next week. I'm Echo.

SPEAKER_00: I'm Mitch.

SPEAKER_03: It's Mitch.

SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Mitch. Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00: Love you guys. Love you guys.