Van Halen Controversy Surrounding The Teachers in the “Hot For Teacher” Video

One of the biggest singles off Van Halen’s album, 1984 was “Hot for Teacher” but the video caused a bit of controversy. There were actually 2 women who played the teacher in the video, not just 1.

Formed in the mid-’70s, Van Halen went on to become one of the most successful rock bands in history, despite having several different frontmen. The classic lineup consisted of guitarist Eddie Van Halen, his brother Alex on drums, bassist Michael Anthony and frontman David Lee Roth.

Van Halen Release 1984

In 1984, Van Halen released a new album, fittingly titled, 1984. The record spawned several huge singles including “Panama”, “Jump” and “Hot for Teacher”.

The video for “Hot for Teacher” was directed by Pete Angelus and David Lee Roth. Angelus had the idea to get children in the video to represent each member when they were in grade school. The video opens with a protagonist named Waldo. Waldo is a weird kid who’s an outsider who doesn’t really fit in.

The video was notable because the members of Van Halen did a choreographed number that was taught to them by one of the dancers from Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” video but the most memorable part of the video was the teacher.

For some time, it was unknown who the teacher’s identity was. It was once rumoured that Wayne Gretzky’s wife, Janet Jones was the teacher in the video, but that wasn’t true.

It later came out that the woman who starred in the “Hot For Teacher” video is Lilian Mueller but there’s a twist. There are actually 2 teachers in the video.

“I was the one wearing a tiara and dancing with David Lee Roth.” – Donna Rupert

The other woman is a Canadian named Donna Rupert. She was interviewed in the book, I Want My MTV, “This is something that nobody knows. There are two girls… I was the one wearing a tiara and dancing with David Lee Roth. There’s a second girl who drops to her knees on the desk wearing a wife beater & does the stripper dancing. That wasn’t me but it transitions so quickly to me again so you think it’s me through the whole thing.”

Rupert claimed she was paid about $2,500 for appearing in the video. She played the chemistry teacher while Muller played the phys ed teacher.

Donna Rupert was the runner-up in the Miss Canada Pageant in 1981 and had a successful career in modelling after moving to LA in the ’80s. She has appeared in about 40-50 national commercials and was handpicked by actor Christopher Atkins to pose with him on the cover of playgirl magazine.

“I thought, ‘Kill me! I can’t believe I have to do this.’” – Donna Rupert

Rupert admitted in the book, I Want My MTV, what the audition process was like, “At the audition, there were five of us standing for what seemed like forever, turning around in our bikinis in a room with Van Halen and the director. I thought, ‘Kill me! I can’t believe I have to do this.’”

Donna Rupert went on to have a family. She moved back to Canada and started her own kids’ clothing line that was sold throughout North America.

Donna Rupert Becomes a Successful Artist

Today Rupert works as an artist, painting contemporary impressionist art that’s inspired by the landscape of the Canadian prairies. Her career as an artist has been pretty successful. A major US poster company published some of her artwork a few years ago and according to the Calgary Herald, her work can be found in major box stores including Target, Pier 1 and Bed Bath and Beyond.

As for Lillian Muller, she hailed from Norway and was born in 1951. She came up in a low-income family and had dreams of making it on her own.

Muller became a successful model in London, walking catwalks and appearing in French Vogue, according to her website. Playboy discovered her and she was Playmate of the Year in 1976. She appeared almost 30 times in the magazine throughout her career, gracing the cover 9 times from 1976 to 1999.

Before showing up in “Hot For Teacher”, Lillian Muller appeared in the Rod Stewart music video for “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy”. She went on to make numerous television appearances including Magnum PI and Remington Steele.

“I was a little old for the role.” – Lillian Muller

By the time Muller appeared in Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher” video, she was in her 30s and admitted she thought she would never get the part. She recalled to Yahoo, “I was in my early 30s at the time. I was a little old for the role.”

Mueller claimed she never got romantically involved with any of the members of Van Halen but did admit to casual relationships with Tom Selleck and Hugh Hefner.

In her later years, Lilliam Muller ended up going back to Norway and appeared in numerous tv shows in her homeland. She has been vocal about her lifestyle choices, including being a vegetarian since she was in her early 20s. She’s since become a published author and a public speaker covering topics including health, fitness, beauty and anti-aging. In 2010, PETA named her Sexiest Vegetarian Over 50.

Now in her 70s, she’s not appearing in any new music videos but does do ads for AARP.

“I was always shocked that she was so nice and liked me and she actually liked me.” – David Spade

A few years ago comedian David Spade told Howard Stern that he dated the teacher in the “Hot for Teacher” video, but he wasn’t clear which women he actually dated. “She was unbelievable… I am so mad at myself that I messed it up… I was a little pipsqueak from a to z, but I was always shocked that she was so nice and liked me and she actually liked me.”

Randy Skinner, who worked for Van Halen’s label, Warner recalled seeing the filming of the video and thinking it would never make it on MTV. The video, of course, made the network but caused several controversies.

“The images frightened my children. They frightened me.” – Tipper Gore

TV show host, Phil Donahue singled out the video, claiming it was having a harmful effect on America’s youth. The crotch-grab the band members did in the video was censored with black bars on NBC’s Friday Night Videos but the network eventually relented and removed the black bars. Tipper Gore, co-founder of the Parent’s Music Resource Center admitted, “The images frightened my children. They frightened me.”

Pete Angelus revealed in the book, I Want My MTV, “There was a big to-do in the press from women’s groups about how the teachers were disrespectfully represented. I didn’t see it that way. It was a fantasy that every boy goes through in school.”

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