“Nothing’s ever what you think it’s going to be. Nothing. Not one single thing in my whole life has ever been what I thought it was going to be.”
That’s how Kelly Tough describes her life’s journey, which has taken her from a troubled childhood, to the Playboy mansion, to the dark corners of the drug world, to a burgeoning career as an artist.
When she was young, the Coquitlam, B.C., native resorted to running away — couch surfing and even sleeping outside at times. While working at a pub, she was approached by Ken Honey, a scout for Playboy who helped get B.C. women into the pages of Hugh Hefner’s magazine. She received words of encouragement from Dorothy Stratten, the B.C.-born Playboy Playmate who was later murdered by her husband.
![Click to play video: 'B.C. born Playmate Dorothy Stratten murdered by husband'](https://i2.wp.com/media.globalnews.ca/videostatic/news/r88tbd5o5l-bn0gyyka3d/WEB_ARCHIVE_DOROTHY_STRATTEN.jpg?w=1040&quality=70&strip=all)
Tough was named Playmate of the Month in October 1981 and went to work for Hefner in Los Angeles.
“So if it wasn’t for him … I think I would have gone down a really dark road and probably wouldn’t have made it into my 20s,” she said of Hefner.
![For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.](https://globalnews.ca/wp-content/themes/shaw-globalnews/images/skyline/national.jpg)
Get breaking National news
At the Playboy Mansion, she met celebrities like Robin Williams, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Steven Martin, Kris Kristofferson and James Caan.
“First time I met him, he was ripping a phonebook in half,” she said of Caan.
She eventually returned home and drugs and drug dealers became dominant in her life. She said at one point in the 90s, a man pointed a gun pointed at her head, execution-style, but didn’t pull the trigger.
“The feeling I had was like, ‘I’m good,'” she recalled. “‘My sons know that I love them. This is going to be fast.’ And he changed his mind.”
![Click to play video: 'Playboy playmate Dorothy Stratten returns to Vancouver'](https://i0.wp.com/media.globalnews.ca/videostatic/news/cjhvmay3pe-jhcv32qi70/WEB_ARCHIVE_DOROTHY_YVR_2.jpg?w=1040&quality=70&strip=all)
Tough eventually beat her drug habit and discovered a passion for art.
“It’s like an obsession,” she said. “It just takes me away to a place that I really like to be.”
Her commissions have increased by the month. In addition to her art, she has also co-authored a book that has yet to be published.
“When I look back on my life, I smile. I just think I’m a really lucky girl,” she said.
“I’ve seen a lot of good things, a lot of bad things and I got through it and I found myself. I’m just really happy that’s the way my life’s turned out.”
Comments