Janet Cervi wasn’t suitable for all types of fashion shows because she is very short, at only about 5 foot two. When she asked me to find gigs for her as a dancer, I had to go and watch her at the American Bar, a seedy place on Main Street. I had already found other work for Janet on photo shoots. As soon as I saw Janet strip, I realized she was worth $35 a show. She was a gymnast, a good dancer, and could do aerobics. So I also started promoting her as a dancer.
While promoting Janet to perform at the Surrey Inn, a tough-looking biker named Patrick Martin approached me about his “biker babe,” Jaye East. He was looking for any kind of work for her. They were lovers then. He was her “Svengali,” her guide and protector. Jaye was a Jacqueline Bisset look-a-like from “Two for the Road” (1967). She was a beautiful, leggy brunette who could also model and act. Because of her flexibility, she became the most important member of the team.
Patrick Martin admired my persistence despite being in a wheelchair, and even offered to be my bodyguard. I got to know Jaye because I spent a lot of time with her around fashion shows, and in bars where I had to see her nude many times. Although she stripped nude on contract for strangers every night when working in bars, she was uncomfortable with me seeing her without clothes. But we managed it.
To get Jaye into auditions for small acting parts, I contacted talent scouts. At the same time I was setting up a special dancewear fashion show at Richard’s. Patrick watched me closely, not trusting my actions until he realized how hard I worked to get gigs for Jaye. My client at Richard’s was to be designer Meryl Lee. She had been a jazz dancer before opening a shop in Gastown, and wanted this show to be like a performance of the Karen Rimmer Dance Troupe, a famous avante garde dance troupe of the time. It would not be a formal show, just jazz dancing. It was set for early February 1985.
It was a very unusual event. Meryl wanted me to produce the show but didn’t want me to use my models or dancers: she wanted me to hire jazz dancers. I told her to find the dancers. I had only done shows with my own models. So she agreed to provide 8 – 9 jazz dancers, and the dance fashions. I agreed, but wanted a leader of my own involved. At the time, Anne Rae was my team captain, but she knew that I’d choose Leah for this one. But Leah couldn’t do jazz dancing, so she acted as my assistant. She also helped the dancers in the dressing room during changes. We offered door prizes, and she also helped with that.
That dance show was the first show I did with Leah. It was more of a dance show than a fashion show, and I didn’t use any of my models or dancers. So, although it was a success, I didn’t do any more shows with Meryl. It just wasn’t a Victor Dino show.
For the next show, I put Leah in a lingerie fashion show at the Wedgewood Hotel with Penny, Valerie, and Denise. I had other models who were better than Leah, but she had a willingness to learn. It took me a long time to figure out Leah. She was like Linda Thulin. They both had lots of potential but needed a lot of basic guidance.
Just before the Meryl Lee jazz show in early February 1985, Janet wanted to introduce me to her roommate, Leah Sarrazin, who she felt would be a fine asset to the team. Because Leah worked night shift at a bar, Janet suggested I meet her at their apartment around 1:00 PM.
Usually I did interviews in my office, but I agreed. When I arrived at their apartment on Nelson Street, Janet took me right into Leah’s room and I was shocked to see her in only bra and panties. My ideal model—and woman— was always carefully and formally dressed. And I was quite naïve.
I got to know Leah very well. She was from Torrance, California, the third of four sisters born to an angry man-hater who had taught her daughters that using men is how to get ahead. Leah's father was a film director, and her uncle Michael had starred in "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" (1968) with Jane Fonda. Looking over her portfolio, I sensed that Leah had the potential to be a star model. She had eyes that could haunt anyone.
I relied on Jaye and other exotic dancers to make money in 1985, including getting her to work at The Penthouse, whose so-owner Ross Fillipone insisted that he didn't ask money from prostitutes who used his location to pick up clients. I learned much about people in 1985, even only doing 15 fashion shows that year. Leah did all the shows and was the star model. She never complained about anything and gained more confidence, the way Linda Thulin had done.
I began thinking of opening a school for models and exotic dancers, wanting Anne Gordon as my business partner. Anne and I had dinner one night to discuss the prospect. Anne felt it was a good idea, but said she couldn't commit; she was going to Boston after breaking up with a lover. I put that goal aside, ending 1985 trying to find suitable replacements for Denise Peat and Anne Gordon.
Contracting dancers in bars
In the 1980s, just about every bar in Surrey, Coquitlam, and Burnaby, plus a few in Vancouver, needed exotic dancers to attract customers. There was a huge demand. At that time, bars could be open from 10.00am to 2.00 am. The managers wanted dancers to do one show an hour over an 8-hour shift, either day-time shifts from 10.00-6.00 pm or night shifts from 700 pm- 2.00 am.I had expanded my business into promoting exotic dancers – strippers - in bars in 1983, when I hired Penny. I particularly wanted to get Jaye some work at the Penthouse, one of Vancouver’s oldest and classiest nightclubs. I had been at school with Jimmy Fillipone and Ted Pawluk, both nephews of co-owner Ross Fillipone. The club had been opened in 1947 by brothers Joe, Ross, Mickey, and. Joe had been killed in 1983 by two guys who barged into his office to steal money. The Penthouse closed for a while, and Ross reopened as sole owner.
One day I asked Ross about having dancers in his bar. I wanted to ask Ross about a rumor concerning the Penthouse, but in a subtle way, without jeopardizing a possible business relationship. So before talking about work for Jaye, I asked whether the charges against his older brother Joe had been true. At that time, high-class prostitutes could work out of hotel lounges and nightclubs. Joe had wanted to have exotic dancers, but was not allowed to do so. Police had charged him with pimping; that is, living off the proceeds of prostitution. Specifically, that he’d demanded money from prostitutes who used his location to pick up clients. But the police could not prove it. Ross told me no, that was just a rumor. As long as prostitutes were paying charges and room rates, they could use the place. But I think Ross would have been shocked if I’d refused to supply dancers because of the charge against Joe.
What made me different as an agent for strippers was that if I wanted to get a model into a bar, I would visit beforehand to get the contract signed, and then visit twice again during the contract:, in midweek and on the last night (Saturday). I would not stick around to watch the strippers or drink. I never hung around and socialized. I did what I had to do and then left. My dancers did the same—this was my rule.
My competitors would just call the bar manager to ask what rate he paid–they didn’t negotiate, like I did, and I always asked a fair rate for the bar and the girl. The other agents would just offer a girl and if accepted, just send her over. The main priority for my competitors who specialized in dancers was to get work in bars for their dancers. My priority was on fashion shows.
Generally, there wasn’t much protection for dancers. My competitors, the two strip agencies in Vancouver, didn’t care whether their dancers were verbally abused by audiences in the bars or if they were fired. If the bar fired a girl, they just said “we’ll find you another girl.” Other agents wouldn’t ask for a contract, and wouldn’t protect them by even visiting the bar. They didn’t go to the stag shows when their girls were stripping. I did.
Bars didn’t like contracts, and I got the Cecil Hotel as a client only because the owner’s daughter had been at school with me. In particular, one of bar owners at the Drake Hotel, one Darcy, did not like contracts. I did not get along with him. He did not respect the girls and wanted to control them. Darcy told me what he did not like, and realized I might sue him. So we agreed not to work together.
Darcy at the Drake also told me that he’d give girls more money if they would do anything he asked. He’d fire girls if they weren’t lewd enough. He and I got along fine but I didn’t like his attitude to dancers, and my dancers would not go along with what he wanted either. For example Penny would not spread her legs and nor would Anne Gordon. Nor would they use sex toys.
This attitude—a need to control dancers—was typical among bar managers. They would fire them if they weren’t lewd enough. Between 1985 and 1987, the Austin hotel set the standard for lewdness in shows.
That’s the main reason why Anne Gordon decided in 1984 to open a union for exotic dancers, the Association for Exotic Dancers, to deal with these conditions (unfortunately, the union dissolved after Anne went to Boston).
The bars noticed that I was very protective. I would visit on the Wednesday see how the dancer was doing and then come back and get my cut on the Saturday, instead of just leaving the girl to collect the money and bring it to me. I liked the hands-on approach, dealing face-to-face. Managers could say how they liked the girl’s performance and how she could improve. Certain bars liked that approach, but most bars didn’t.
In the bars I was dealing with—the Penthouse is an example—the managers realized that I focused only on business. I would arrive; negotiate over money, and leave. I didn’t socialize, didn’t linger. And a Victor Dino dancer would reflect that too, whether it was Jaye East, or Janet Cervi, or another of my exotic dancers. You could always tell a Victor Dino exotic dancer because she always remained mysterious: friendly, but untouchable.
I went out to make good connections with management at the hotels where I wanted to place dancers, like the Surrey Inn, and the Scottsdale. Janet Cervi and Anne Gordon were at first worried about the Surrey Inn. Anne took me aside and said they didn’t think that I could actually get work there, or if I did, that the money might not be very good. I was playing hardball by insisting on contracts.
My dancers also appreciated that I would visit, and not just let them do it all. First I visited in mid-week to see how Janet or Jaye were doing, and discuss with management about how they could improve. Then I’d be back on Saturday to take my cut. I saw Jaye dance naked so often she wasn’t comfortable anymore, yet she understood.
Dancers worked more often than my models. They got paid per show but they had to do eight-hour shifts. For example, when Jaye danced at the Penthouse, she did 6 shows a night at $30 per show. So she earned $180 a night for 6 days, or $1080 a week. I would take 20% of that. Stripping was much better money than modelling.
Jaye liked day shifts, but if the client offered more money, she would do night shows. Hilary Scott was a good dancer – and a good model. Like Jaye, she preferred to do day shows because she was going to night school. Penny, Janet, and Anne didn’t mind day or night shifts.
By the mid-80s I was developing a reputation of being difficult to work with, and blacklisted by many bars and the big newspapers. Not because I was nasty but because I insisted on a certain procedure. Hiring more dancers and using them in shows had a downside, however. Denise Peat, my team captain, and the first model who I had hired in 1983, had never felt comfortable about working in fashion shows with exotic dancers. She put up with it until 1985, and left for that reason. But as a model, she didn’t fit my ideal, anyway.
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The WCFDA vs the strippers
After 3 years as a member, I had become fairly familiar with the WCFDA (Western Canadian Fashion Designers Association) and the members. Its goal was to bring together everybody in the fashion industry: retailers, fashion designers, jewelers, and even shoe salesman. For a couple of my shows at Richard's on Richards, I even worked with John Fluevog, Vancouver’s internationally famous shoe designer.The membership fee varied. It was $500 for designers but less for agents. My competitors, Casablancas, Charles Stuart, and Richard’s Modelling Agency, were also members.
Once a year, the WCFDA sponsored a big show to promote their lines. It was a big ballroom show, an evening event. This joint show made financial sense because, to rent a ballroom cost about $3000-$4000.
Judy Larsen produced that big show and she would choose models from various agencies. She never chose any of my models. At first I thought it was that she didn’t think they were good enough. But later I learned that it was because I used exotic dancers to model.
Unfortunately, most of the major WCFDA designers also refused to work with me, and for the same reason: I used exotic dancers in my model shows. Designers like Daphne Pape, Linda Frosh, Daphne Pappas, Zonda Nellis, and Christine Morton showed their creations in the spring and fall shows, and these were the basis of their “bespoke tailoring” business for individual clients.
These designers did not have stores. They worked from their studios, where they would take orders on deposit for specific individuals, and have the item ready within three weeks. So the young businesswomen who liked clothing shown by, say, Linda Frosh or Christine Morton in the big WCFDA events, knew that they could get custom-made dresses that were similar.
Christine Morton specialized in designing lingerie. She could charge at least $200-$300 for a teddy – made of silk, it must be said. The irony is that although she liked sexy lingerie, she didn’t want any of my dancers modelling that lingerie. She avoided me not because of the cost, but because of the dancers.
Caroline Friessen was also a member of WCFDA but she specialized in designing costumes for exotic dancers. The strange thing was that despite knowing this, WCDWA still allowed her to join as a fashion designer. Caroline was a unique designer. She was the same age as I was, and had been designing since she was in her 20s. Although she was a new designer, the other designers didn’t really socialise with her. So she felt herself alienated, kind of like me.
The retailers of high-end ready-to-wear fashions, like Delino Boutique and 10th and Proper were not members of the Association. These stores were my main clients, although I did work for designer Leah Chu, who was a WCFDA member but sold her line through Antonio Boutique (also not a member of WCFDA).
What irritated me the most was that this prejudice didn’t allow my dancers to show that they were good models. That bothered me. My attitude was that, if you believe in somebody, give them a chance. But I was developing a reputation for working with people that no other agency would touch. Linda Thulin is an example. She trained at Casablancas, but because she was overweight, neither Casablancas nor any other agency would take her on.
The fashion editor of a local magazine, Marylou Gazeley, was also a WCFDA member. She told me that she had heard of my agency for models and exotic dancers, and that I was combining them in fashion shows. She said to me, face-to-face, that I should not be doing this, that I was unprofessional.
Sheryl Dawson, a former model and now president of the WCFDA, may have disagreed with me about using dancers, but never said anything to me. Cheryl saw some good shows of mine that I did at Richard’s, where I used dancers. She looked forward to my shows and was curious which of my dancers would be modelling. I think that in her heart she admired me. I have tremendous regard for her. When I introduced her to the audience, she would stand up in the spotlight, and I’d say, “This is a woman I respect. A woman I consider complete.”
Cheryl was at the end of her modeling career and had become a realtor for Century 21, so she managed to buy a ranch home in Delta, complete with horses. One time, she invited all the members of the association to attend a summer pool party there. She must have had 30 guests. I was impressed with the pool. An Italian designer called Francesco had brought with him his young girlfriend, about my age. He asked me to look at his girlfriend who was about to dive into the pool wearing a skimpy bikini. Caroline Friessen was invited to Cheryl Dawson’s pool party, but nobody spoke to her.
What people are saying
The early 80s was a time when I could tell who was going to support me and who wasn’t. This also applied to my models. Joan Dahl was one of my models but she wasn’t comfortable working with exotic dancers, and there were a few others like her.Some models didn’t like having their public profile as a model linked to my identity. Denise Peat was uncomfortable about this. The media would actually ask models whether they would do a show with an exotic dancer. Judy Senick however was proud of being one of my models.
Virginia Leeming obviously knew which models worked for me. She would approach them and ask, “Would you actually do this kind of show, where you'd work with an exotic dancer?” She was undermining my relationship with my models. We didn’t like each other and she would do anything to undermine me. Virginia Leeming was continually backstabbing and viciously needling my models and me all the time.
I learned that this was the underground politics of the fashion industry. I remembered that at Blanche Macdonald, Peggy Morrison warned me that this is a cutthroat industry. The reason is that once you have a reputation, people talk about you. They talk about others in the industry all the time. If people like you, they’ll stay with you. But if they think you’re unprofessional, they will spread the word.
For example, there was a rumour going around, about the agent Charles Stuart: that he only made money from teaching people how to model, but he would never really give them work. I couldn’t prove that, and it wasn’t any of my business. I didn’t pay attention to what agencies were saying about each other, and I didn’t really care what agencies said about me. I was concerned about doing a good job for my client and about getting work for my people.
If I was a weak man, I might have thought to myself, I can’t handle this criticism. But I just hung in there. When I had the argument with Carrie Fieldgate, she said I wouldn’t last if I kept Leah. That did not upset me.
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A school for dancers?
I learned a lot about people in 1985, even though I did only 15 fashion shows that year. Leah was in all the shows and became the star model. She never complained about anything. Slowly she gained more confidence.Towards the end of the year we did a show at Kitsilano yacht club, showing casual wear. It was not too good. The audience was small, and the client took over a month to pay. I began thinking of opening a school for models and exotic dancers. During the 70s and 80s there were only two major modelling schools; Blanche McDonald and John Casablancas. There were no schools for exotic dancers. I wanted to teach models how to do exotic dancing (back then, exotic dancers had to teach themselves—there was no school for that, 30 years ago. Now, girls can learn pole dancing in fitness centres. I didn’t want to teach only stripping. I would teach them something about styles, themes, and how to choose music etc. I thought I would find people who wanted to do both, because dancers were in high demand at that time in Vancouver. Many women wanted to make a quick dollar, but that was never my priority.
I decided to ask my bank for a loan, but to my shock they turned me down. They said they would approve a loan for a store, but not for a school for exotic dancers. I was very frustrated. I had been with this bank since 1972. So I looked around for a business partner and thought of Anne Gordon. She was a few years older than me. We got along well, although sometimes she would tease me by showing me her body. That sometimes made it difficult to work with her!
Anne had a great business sense, and the experience. She’d been a dancer since 1971 at a strip bar. She had worked at the Penthouse night club, and in California met with Tempest Storm, a famous stripper of the 1950’s, and the even more famous Gypsy Rose Lee, who was Anne’s idol.
Anne and I had dinner one night to discuss the prospect. She felt it was a good idea, but said she couldn’t commit. And unfortunately she was in no mood to quit dancing. She had just broken up with her boyfriend - she had been in love - and admitted she wasn’t ready to go into business. She just wanted to get out of Vancouver, and she moved to Boston to continue her career.
I thought of other business partners. Penny was too young, and Candy Bee just wanted to make money. So I had no choice but to look at other opportunities, like new locations. I put that goal aside for a while and ended 1985 trying to find suitable replacements for Denise Peat and Anne Gordon.
