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An interview with our favorite Rudette, Debbie Dutton Naughton |
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Written by Paul Raymore
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Tuesday, 16 January 2007 |
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 Having lived in Squaw Valley since she was a child, Debbie Dutton Naughton is as local as they come. Well known throughout the valley for her outgoing personality and spirit, Debbie’s roles in “Hot Dog The Movie” — as a Rudette and stunt double for Shannon Tweed — made her a local celebrity and changed her life dramatically.
It was during the 52 days of filming for “Hot Dog” at Squaw Valley that Debbie met her future husband, David Naughton, who played Rat Pack leader Dan O'Callahan in the movie.
With two children, David, 21, and Kendal, 18, by her now ex-husband David — both of whom, like Debbie’s other two older boys Tyler and Brandon, were raised locally — Debbie laughs a lot when remembering the days spent filming what would become the ultimate ski/party movie of all time.
— Interviewed by Paul Raymore/Tahoe World
• Change is inevitable. I guess personally I would like the valley to stay kind of old-school and quite, but I guess that’s just not in the cards.
• We were here for the Olympics and everything, and there was just hardly anyone here. There were like 10 different families in the valley, if you can imagine.
• The stunt coordinator, Max Kleven, was a pretty good friend and had a house in the valley. He was given the script and knew the leading lady was five-foot-eleven, blonde, the same kind of body shape as me, and had never skied before, and he said “I know someone who can double for her.”
 • I pretty much came in for the interview and they said, “Yup, you can double for Shannon Tweed.” So that worked out great.
• All I knew was that she was a Playmate in ’82 or right around the same time, she was Hugh Hefner’s girlfriend, and she was coming into town, and I got to double for the lead. I was hoping she was going to be nice.
• She ended up being pretty humble in the mountains. She had never been on the snow before. I had to help her into her ski boots and explain how you lean on your poles to look kind of natural. She was really like a fish out of water, but she was a good sport about it.
 • I was a Rudette, too.
• Being part of it meant, pretty much just skiing all day and making money doing it. It was great.
• Working in Hollywood was very different for me because I am a total Squaw Valley mountain girl, but it was fun. It’s very competitive down there in the stunt industry, so I only dabbled in it.
• I wish they would film more movies up here, or at least in this vicinity, so that some of the local people who have their [Screen Actors Guild] cards could do some work in their hometown.
• Most people were pretty OK with the movie, but some people were thinking, “It’s just so racy for Squaw.”
• I think there was stuff like that going on behind the scenes a lot more than people knew. There were certain groups of people who always had really cool parties on the lake and hot tub parties…
 • I don’t know how accurate it would be coming into a hotel and being greeted by somebody with just a towel around her head.
• That made the Fantasy Inn in Tahoe City pretty famous.
• I was thinking: I’ve got this little stunt-doubling part in this B picture, and it’s super fun to do it. I had no idea it was going to become so popular.
• It did a lot for Squaw, because everybody started to associate that with Squaw Valley.
 • I remember “Aspen Extreme” was kind of trying to emulate it, and some of these other movies... But they weren’t the same. I thought that “Hot Dog” was just really unique.
• The style of skiing was a little different then, obviously, and the clothes are different, but the skiing was good.
• I have a lot of favorite parts. The broomball scene was fun because it was kind of wild. We get into this huge brawl, and people were really getting into the broomball game. People got rough.
 • Kids my daughter’s or my son’s age have told me, “When I heard they shot ‘Hot Dog’ at Squaw we wanted to move out there.” That’s always cool. I had no idea it was such a cult film.
• The 20th reunion was fun, it was almost like a “Rocky Horror Picture Show” screening.
• Some of the Rudettes got together and took a ski run and people were like, “Hey, there’s the Rudettes.”
• It would be so cool if they did another “Hot Dog.”
Photos by Ryan Salm/Tahoe World
Learn more about the making of "Hot Dog The Movie" and how to celebrate at the 25th anniversary party:
• Schedule and overview of the "Hot Dog" 25th anniversary party
• Q&A with the man behind "Hot Dog The Movie" — Mike Marvin
• "Hot Dog" by the numbers (random facts you probably don't know)
• Hot doggin' locals
• Memorable quotes from the film
• '80s fashion tips to get you ready for the party
• The Chinese downhill... It is the only way!
• Eat your way to glory in the hot dog eating contest
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 16 January 2007 )
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