Did Kirk Douglas Have a Secret Tunnel to the Playboy Mansion?
Image by Wikimedia Commons
By Anne Cohen April 1, 2015
Kirk Douglas with Eve Miller in ‘The Big Trees’ // Wikimedia Commons
Alas, we discovered this was all an elaborate Playboy April’s fools joke!
Oh, the things you come across when looking for pictures to make Hugh Hefner’s birthday collage.
A couple of editors at Playboy were rummaging through the magazine’s archives looking for material to properly honor their esteemed founder, when they came across some polaroids from 1977 showing a massive construction project at the Playboy Mansion. Confused, they asked the property’s general manager about it. His answer: “That’s probably when they built the tunnels in the 7’0s.”
Given that it’s April 1, aka the day no one should trust news outlets, let’s just hope it’s not a prank.
Apparently, some Hollywood lotharios weren’t content with just walking in the front door like your average Joe. So, to oblige the likes of James Caan, Kirk Douglas — both MOTs — Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty, Hugh Hefner decided to build a series of underground tunnels leading directly into the actors’ homes.
An adventurous field-trip to the mansion revealed blueprints for these tunnels, leading to the homes of “Mr. J. Nicholson,” “Mr. W. Beatty,” “Mr. K. Douglas” and “Mr. J. Caan.”
The tunnels — if they were ever even built — were reportedly shut down sometime in the late ’80s. None of the actors involved have agreed to comment (shocker).
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
