Terry Nihen Bio
Terry Nihen is an American glamour and nude model. She was born on September 17, 1960, in Concord, Massachusetts. Playboy named her its December 1983 Playmate at 23. Her appearance came during Playboy's polished, high-production 1980s period.
Nihen has natural breasts, blue eyes and brown hair. Her measurements are 35-23-33.
Her arrival in Playboy’s orbit began not in a studio but under nightclub lights: a local bikini contest where a modest prize—an escape to Fort Lauderdale—was on offer and a bright, confident presence did the rest. That evening’s contest was the kind of small-stage moment that sometimes rewrites a life; a fellow contestant and judge saw more than a momentary winner.
Among those judges was Melinda Mays, Playmate of the Month for February 1983, who encouraged Nihen to try out for the magazine. The anecdote has the pleasing inevitability of backstage lore: an experienced model spotting potential and steering a newcomer toward a larger stage. That nudge led to test photos and the professional introductions that follow a recognized face.
Her centerfold was photographed by Richard Fegley, a studio veteran whose command of light and texture shaped much of the magazine’s look in that period. Those images emphasize clean, polished portraiture—soft highlights, careful composition—and place Nihen within the magazine’s high-production aesthetic without turning her into a stylized cipher; the pictures register personality as much as polish.
The story is compact and direct: a nightclub contest, a timely encouragement from a recent Playmate, and a session with a photographer whose work defined an era’s gloss. It’s a tidy reminder that, for some models of that moment, a single spontaneous night and a helpful word from a colleague were the prelude to being seen on a much larger stage.
