Marya Carter Bio
Marya Carter is an American actress, glamour and nude model. Born Zella Maria Grajeda on May 12, 1942, in Los Angeles, California, she has also been credited as Carter Hunt, Marya "Sally" Carter, Sally Carter, Sally Carter Ihnat, and Sally Ihnat. Playboy named her its May 1962 Playmate at 19. Her appearance came during the 1960s, as Playboy grew into a major force in American magazine publishing.
Carter has natural breasts, brown eyes and brown hair. Her measurements are 37-23-36.
Marya Carter’s life after Playboy moved steadily toward acting. During the 1960s and 1970s she worked across low-budget features and television. One of her early screen appearances came in the science-fiction film The Phantom Planet, followed by television work on series such as My Favorite Martian and Emergency!.
The move into show business suited someone who had already described herself as happiest around movement and activity. Away from the camera, Carter gravitated toward the water—deep-sea scuba diving, skin diving and water-skiing were among her favorite pursuits—and dancing was another regular pleasure. That athletic streak made the beach more than a backdrop; it was part of the life she genuinely enjoyed.
Her personal life also became closely connected to Hollywood. Carter married character actor Steve Ihnat, known for roles across film and television, and they had a son, Stefan. Ihnat died of a heart attack in 1972, only a month after their son was born and on Carter’s 30th birthday. She later married television personality and game-show host Peter Marshall in 1977; that marriage ended in divorce in 1983.
Carter’s career never settled into a single defining role, but that was typical of many working actresses of the period. She moved between genre films, guest television appearances and supporting parts rather than building her public identity around one production. Her screen work consequently reads as a broad working career rather than a brief detour from modeling.
What Playboy captured was the beginning of that transition. The woman who talked about scuba diving, dancing and wanting to act would spend the following years doing exactly that—moving from glamour photography into television and film while building a life increasingly removed from the simple beach-girl image that first introduced her to readers.
