Who Was Kay Martin of the Kay Martin Lodge?

By Richard Cooper, January 20, 2021

We were driving up South Virginia Street recently and passed 6950 which is the Kay Martin Lodge. My wife wondered who was Kay Martin that they had this lodge named after them. I mentioned that I had been passing this address since the 1960s and had always wondered the same thing. As usual she got on Google when a question comes up and found that Kay was a popular casino nightclub act in the 1960s.

Born in Bakersfield, CA in 1927, Kay was a natural beauty and when she reached the age of independence began modeling. Known for her blond good looks and curvy figure she became popular on the “Miss Something-Something” circuit. She was even in the running for “Post Office Queen of 1958” in Fort Lauderdale, Florida but she returned to Reno for her engagement at the Mapes. In 1959 she was known as the only non-islander till then known as “Miss Waikiki.”

One story goes that her husband Jeff Hotchkiss was performing at an event in California in about 1952 and for no particular reason Kay wandered near the stage to the admiring cheers of the males in the audience. After the show, the event manager inquired who she was. Jeff explained and the manager wondered why she wasn’t part of the act. Jeff exclaimed “She can’t sing!” The event manager replied “Who cares!? Put her onstage!” They took the advice and spent 6 weeks intensely perfecting her singing skills discovering that she was actually quite talented. They named the act “Kay Martin and Her Body Guards” and began developing, performing and creating a buzz . They worked the Florida/Reno/Hawaii nightclub circuit gaining popularity. It’s reported she posed as a Playboy Playmate and also had a photo spread in Escapade Magazine. Along the way Hotchkiss and she divorced at some point but continued the act.

A good description of the show is from the Reno Gazette Journal from 1960:
Hotchkiss served as manager and for most of the groups history, Kay’s husband. He played the straight-man, planned the act and wrote most of the comedy material. Bill Ellison, a dancer, accompanied on the accordion and piano acting as music director. Drummer Tony Bellson rated a drum solo nearly every act and was admired by other drum professionals.
The Reno/Tahoe circuit was always the home circuit for the group and Kay was known around town as an excellent golfer and accomplished equestrian making her the natural choice as Master of Ceremonies at many local events.
By 1957, the entertainer and apparently level headed businesswoman invested her earnings into building the Kay Martin Lodge 3 miles south of Reno along the Carson City/Tahoe Highway. Remaining based in Reno, Kay hosted many celebrities at her lodge who came to Reno to work. At the time, many Reno casinos would not allow black entertainers such as Sammy Davis, Jr to stay in the hotels where they performed. Bill Harrah is said to have hosted some of these entertainers at his ranch and it’s possible Kay did also. A report states it was always busy from the day it opened with trade from the entertainment crowd. The lodge advertised single or double furnished apartments. At this date the lodge has been in operation for 67 years, making it among one of the oldest continuously operating lodging/apartment businesses in the region.

In 1963, she also bought an apartment building in Waikiki, Hawaii.
Kay’s story is very entertaining to me because as a boy growing up in the late 50s, early 60s, the Reno Tahoe casino scene had an exciting mystique. My parents were pretty conservative but they ventured up to Frank Sinatra’s Cal Neva Lodge at north shore Lake Tahoe and they even drug me along to several forays into Reno when we summered at Tahoe. I remember seeing the elephants at the Nugget, Bill Harrah’s original, multi-warehouse car collection, several (G rated) shows, lounge acts and special events. An added treat was dining out and getting a break from my mom’s cooking which even she was grateful for. I have to laugh because now I realize my favorite, the butterfly prawns, I see now, were oft times the most expensive things on the menu. I think they were just thankful I was eating. In the winter, we also watched the Joey Bishop Show and the Dean Martin show which had a similar vibe with not only casual, amazing talent but a wink and a nod to flirty innuendo.

Kay Martin and her Body Guards seem to epitomize that perfect lounge act that was talented, varied, a little shocking and always fun and quick. She could sing standards sultry and sweet and switch to “naughty but nice” comedy tunes in an instant. By the early 1960s they really hit their stride being described as the 2nd most popular lounge act in the United States. Famous commentator Walter Winchell proclaimed Kay one of the most beautiful entertainers in the country. They released at least six albums, with the most popular a Christmas album titled “I know what he wants for Christmas, but I don’t know how to wrap it!” The albums included cover songs, standards with witty new lyrics and live show recordings

In October, 1964, the Reno Gazette reports she was returning to Reno for a few days to visit her mom as two new albums were coming out: “Kay Martin in Las Vegas” and “Kay Martin Sings of Sex and Things”. Then she is off to perform in Hawaii in December on the winter circuit.

Jess Hotchkiss and Kay divorced in 1967 and Jess planned on opening a “nightspot” in Waikiki.

By 1968 Kay was 41 and it’s my guess she retired from show business as the entertainment publicity stops about then. She and her parents continued to own and manage the Kay Martin Lodge for many years until her retirement from that endeavor. It’s heartening to see an entertainer that was able to apparently avoid all the usual traps and pitfalls of the industry, invest wisely and be true to family. Respecting her privacy we’ll end our story here.

Music
https://www.last.fm/music/Kay+Martin
https://www.discogs.com/artist/1940759-Kay-Martin-her-Bodyguards
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFiWZesd4xQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e8bY2DsOe0

Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kay_Martin_%26_Her_Body_Guards
RGJ 15 July 1961
RGJ 1 Sept 1961
RGJ 26 May 1960
RGJ 10 Dec 1966
RGJ 2 Oct 1964
Long Beach (CA) Press Telegram 14 Oct 1965
RGJ 4 Sept 1959