Bewitched featured many memorable guest stars, but one of the most enjoyable was Carol Wayne, who played Tabitha's birthday bunny. In # 178, Uncle Arthur accidentally turns the bunny that Tabitha wished for into a Playboy bunny in the middle of Tabitha's birthday party. Naturally, Darrin has a client (played by Bernie Kopell) over at the time and he becomes bewitched by this "Bunny." Bunny's ample chest and skimpy costume are in stark contrast to her wide-eyed innocence, squeaky voice, and Carol gives a delightful performance as a rabbit trapped in the body of a sex kitten.

   A less memorable guest star on Bewitched was Carol's little sister Nina. She played Beverly Wilson, who was escort to Darrin's client Osgood Rightmeyer (played by Bernard Fox) in # 65. In Kasey Rogers and Mark Woods book, The Bewitched Cookbook: Magic in the Kitchen, page 168 says that Beverly was played by Carol Wayne. This lead to some debate over whether the Bewitched "Bunny" had appeared in multiple roles on the show. After examining the tapes and doing some research, it was proven that the book was in error and that Carol's little sister, Nina, was also an actress during the 1960s. The similarities in their facial features makes it easy to get the two actresses confused. In general, Nina appeared to be younger, to have darker hair, and was less endowed than Carol.

Nina Wayne as Beverly in 65

Carol Wayne as Bunny in 178

   Carol Wayne was born on September 6th (reports vary on whether this was 1941 or 1942) in Chicago, IL. Her sister Nina was born shortly after on September 18, 1943. Both found their way to Hollywood in the 1960s and appeared on popular TV shows of that time.

   In addition to this role on Bewitched, Carol was also a guest star on such TV shows in the 1960s as The Man from U.N.C.L.E., I Spy, I Dream of Jeannie, Mannix; in the 1970s series Emergency!; and in the 1980s hit The Fall Guy. Her most famous TV role was as the Tea-Time/ Matinee Lady on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. In a series of skits with Carson dressed as the smarmy Art Fern, Carol played the role of a ditzy bleached blonde, which included jokes about her never drowning with the "built-in" flotation devices on her chest.

   Similar to Bewitched guest star Paul Lynde, Carol also became a frequent guest of The Hollywood Squares and another show called Celebrity Sweepstakes. She also made feature films throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s including The Party, Savannah Smiles, and Heartbreakers (which was her final film in 1984). Carol married and subsequently divorced Burt Sugarman, who produced several TV series in the 1970s and achieved great success in the 1980s by producing the dramas Children of a Lesser God, Extremities (with former Charlie's Angels star Farrah Fawcett), and Crimes of the Heart.

   Unfortunately, Carol's career was cut short when she died under mysterious causes while vacationing in Mexico on January 13, 1985. The jokes about her breasts rang ironic when the star was found drowned in only four feet of water. An autopsy revealed that the death was not related to drugs or alcohol, and many suspect her travel companion of foul play. For more information on this tragedy, watch The E! Mysteries and Scandals episode on Carol Wayne.

   Not much is known about Nina Wayne, who slipped out of Hollywood by the 1970s. In addition to her role on Bewitched, she was in another 1960s series entitled Camp Runamuck with another Bewitched guest star, Dave Madden (who went on to star as Rueben Kincaid in The Partridge Family). This series pitted a boys camp against a girls camp and Madden's character was smitten by Nina's character, Caprice. Nina also starred with a then little-known actor by the name of Harrison Ford in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966) and Luv (1967). She was also in Carl Reiner's movie, The Comic, with Reiner and Dick Van Dyke in 1969.

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For pictures of Carol on The Tonight Show, go to http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Boulevard/3766/

 

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