BIOGRAPHY She reveals rich and famous don't really do it all



A day-to-day account of her life as a nanny is chronicled in the book.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
Is there a parent among us who doesn't fantasize about being fabulously wealthy, or even unfabulously wealthy, enough to have a houseful of staff?
Think of it: no hauling groceries. Meals prepared to your every whim. Going out for a night on the town? You could have your personal stylist choose what you'll wear as your hair and makeup experts get you ready.
This is the life of the rich and famous.
Suzanne Hansen, author of "You'll Never Nanny in this Town Again" (Ruby Sky Publishing, $15.95) knows this lifestyle well. Her book chronicles life as a nanny for one of Hollywood's most powerful men. Hansen doesn't reveal his name, referring to him as Steven Swartz, and no, it's not Spielberg. He runs a talent agency and vacations with Disney's CEO Michael Eisner.
At age 19, Hansen traveled from her hometown of Cottage Grove, Oregon, to Los Angeles after graduating from nanny school. Her Hollywood nanny career occurred during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
"The nanny school gave me the basics but did not prepare me for the real world," Hansen says. "In all fairness, it was the first time the school had sent someone to a Hollywood family. What I experienced is something you wouldn't be able to prepare for."
Hollywood heavyweight Swartz is a self-centered, condescending, spiteful art collector and workaholic. His wife, Julia, is so detached from motherhood that she asks Hansen how to hold her own baby.
What about those 3 a.m. feedings? Mom slept as Hansen comforted baby Brandon.
Julia Swartz's world consisted of daily workouts and dinner parties for stars including Goldie Hawn, Steve Martin, Sally Field and Dustin Hoffman.
The couple had all the trappings of Hollywood success. A live-in cook, live-in housekeeper, relief cook, weekly gardener, guy to detail the cars and additional gardening and fix-it staff when needed.
Hansen had close encounters with celebrities, including Tom Cruise, Robert Redford and Clint Eastwood. But after one year, the tension and demands of being on call 24/7 began to wear.
On schedule
An excerpt from Hansen's book describes her typical day:
"Rise before 7 a.m. with 6-week old Brandon for feeding. Help mother, Julia, dress the kids for school. Help get kids off to school. Care for and entertain Brandon until children return. Amanda comes home at 12:30 p.m. from preschool. Josh is home at 3:30 from kindergarten. Read with all the kids, play with toys or succumb to the lures of the VCR. Eat dinner with Julia and the kids. Get Brandon ready for bed. Help kids get into pajamas. Feed Brandon bottle. Take infant monitor to room and listen for him to wake up. Feed baby in the middle of the night and repeat feeding a couple of hours later. Then it's morning and I start all over again."
Hansen earned $300 a week and wasn't allowed to leave the house in the evenings. She was even on the job when she accompanied the family on vacations. Her eight-day trip to Hawaii spent with the Swartz family consisted of one outing to the beach and one dip in the pool.
During a $20,000 cruise without the children, Steven called home. Hansen assumed the call was to check on the children.
"Suzy, I'm calling you from somewhere in the Mediterranean. Is my art OK?" Steven asked.
Calls monitored
Hansen's friends were other nannies. Her friend Mandie worked for a couple worth zillions. The wife itemized the telephone bill to make sure they weren't paying for the nanny's personal calls. This same woman spent $6,000 on a purse the size of two packs of cigarettes.
"It's so unbelievable," Hansen says. "You have these multimillionaires nickel-and-dime you. They don't say, 'Let me treat you' or buy you little gifts. It clearly says you're not a priority."
Hansen was never considered family even with the long hours she spent with the Swartzs' children. During a family photo on the slopes of Aspen, Julia Swartz asked Hansen to step out of camera range.
"They started taking off their ski jackets and caps and piling them on me to hold," Hansen writes. "Julia glanced back . . and said, 'Suzy, I'm glad you're here. You make a good coat rack.' "
Happy memories
The book has many other examples of Hansen's modern-day servitude. Still, Hansen came away with happy memories of the children once under her care.
After leaving the Swartz family, Hansen was treated much better as a nanny for Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman and later, for Debra Winger.
Today, Hansen is a stay-and-work-at-home mom. She is married with two children and lives in Oregon. She says her book explores the real Hollywood.
"I would like the hard-working moms of America who say, 'I wonder how she does it all?' to know they don't do it all," Hansen says.