Daphnee Lynn Duplaix Bio
Daphnee Duplaix is an American Playboy model, actress, singer, and television personality. She was born on August 18, 1976, in Manhattan, New York, United States. Her zodiac sign is Leo. She is also known as Daphnee Duplaix and Daphnee Duplaix Samuel.
Daphnee Duplaix was Playboy’s Playmate of the Month for July 1997, earning the title at the age of 20. Her centerfold, photographed by Richard Fegley in the Bahamas, introduced readers to a rising actress whose confidence, ambition, and unmistakable screen presence would soon lead to a successful television career.
Daphnee Duplaix is known for her distinctive Haitian and Italian heritage. During her Playboy career, she was listed with brown eyes, naturally black hair, and measurements of 34-24-36.
Born in Manhattan, Daphnee experienced both hardship and opportunity from an early age. Her father died when she was six, leaving her mother to raise four children. The family later moved from New York to New Jersey and eventually settled in Florida, where her mother adopted six cousins from Haiti. As a child, Daphnee delivered newspapers, and by the age of sixteen she was working at the South Beach nightclub Liquid before later paying her tuition at the International College of Fine Arts by working at Hooters.
Daphnee grew up surrounded by music and performance. Her mother had been a professional dancer in New York and Paris, while Daphnee herself began singing at an early age and dreamed of becoming an actress. Before appearing in Playboy, she worked as a model, actress, singer, and dancer. A chance meeting with Sylvester Stallone while working as an extra on The Specialist encouraged her to pursue speaking roles instead of background work, advice that helped launch her acting career. Before her Playboy debut, she had already appeared in films including Striptease, Girl Talk, The Substitute, Donnie Brasco, and The Blackout.
In her Playboy interview, Daphnee said she hoped to become known for action roles and revealed that she was filming Kickboxing Academy, in which she played a teenage student caught in a rivalry between competing martial arts schools. During her Playmate trip to the Bahamas, she also recorded music at Compass Point Studios with producer Terry Manning, demonstrating another side of her artistic ambitions. Her Playmate Data Sheet reflected her outgoing personality, listing authenticity, humor, and confidence among the qualities she valued most, while her lifelong goal was to become one of the most talented and recognizable actresses of her generation.
Following her Playboy appearance, Daphnee continued to build a successful acting career. She became widely known for portraying Valerie Davis on the NBC daytime drama Passions from 2004 to 2008 and later joined the cast of One Life to Live as Rachel Gannon. In 2009, she also hosted the Playboy TV game show Show Us Your Wits. In 2025, she returned to daytime television as Dr. Nicole Dupree Richardson in CBS’s Beyond the Gates.
Away from television, Daphnee has balanced her acting career with family life. She is the mother of four children and has remained active in film and television for more than three decades. Her journey from aspiring performer in South Florida to Playboy Playmate and successful daytime television actress reflects the determination and optimism she spoke about in her original Playboy interview.
