The nude female’s silhouette can release and inspire a male’s creative drive. Try it. I have. When seeking an exclusive image for the climax of my first novel, long ago, I happened to thumb Playboy open at DeDe Lind’s Centerfold, and—shazam!—the metaphor was suddenly there. My mind, entranced by DeDe’s national anthem of a face and form, had suddenly flipped from the logical and boring to the creative and unconscious. Where magic lives. Let this maxim stand: Confronted by a pair of luscious, shapely front-end loaders, no normal Joe can sustain rational thought for long. Your unconscious travels along the optic nerve, engages the sensual, and produces an alpha wave of imagination. Ever since then, I write with a Playboy open on my desk.
Centerfolds have sparked a lot of useful alpha in the past 45 years or so—intense and invaluable relationships have grown between viewer and viewee. Of course, your favorite Centerfold will not be mine and certain women fit their historical moments more aptly than others—it’s a long cultural journey from Janet Pilgrim to Jenny McCarthy. And a few, like Marilyn, are eternal. But all, to some degree, recharge and refurbish the men that look at them.
The chosen women who appear on these pages are not just pin-ups, they are our muses. Whether on the bulkhead of an aircraft carrier, in a college frat house or in the locker room of a coal mine, these are the gorgeous images that have drawn out and nurtured the American male’s creative energy for almost 50 years.
100. Shae Marks
Think as you begin Shae Marks, Miss May 1994, fissome, sunny, stunning as an oil field blowout. Shae Marks is, well, shy. (“I am very insecure.”) As you flip through the photographs of these 100 beautiful women, remember that they’re human: young, yearning—not yet goddesses, perhaps even a little skittish. In fact, they’re just like you, only a whole lot better-looking. Remember that: It’ll help your imaginary relationship along.
99. Jean Bell
Jean Bell, Miss October 1969, was a walking ad for the “black is beautiful” era. She enjoyed a brief film career (The Choirboys, T.N.T. Jackson), but was best known for a celebrated 18-month love affair with Richard Burton.
98. Shauna Sand
Miss May 1996, Shauna Sand, has eyes as bright as acetylene headlights and an abdomen you could bounce a silver dollar off of. Her marriage to actor Lorenzo Lamas inspired a Playmate spread in which the bride wore white lingerie. She became a regular on her husband’s TV show Renegade.
97. Julie Woodson
Julie Woodson, the color of soy sauce poured on a plate of dim sum, walked off the set of Super Fly when asked to do a nude love scene (insufficient pay), which led her to Playboy. An airline attendant turned actress, Miss April 1973 has hair black and explosive as the flak over Schweinfurt, and a haunting, mysterious face that belongs at Abu Simbel.
96. Susan Bernard
Miss December 1966 Susan Bernard was, so to speak, the child of Centerfolds. Her father, Bernard of Hollywood, photographed Marilyn Monroe, among other celebrities. Susan appeared in the Russ Meyer classic Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, married (and divorced) actor and writer Jason Miller and wrote a book called Joyous Motherhood.
95. Nikki Schieler
Miss September 1997 Nikki Schieler has more pulse points in her magnificent body than all the rest of us put together. Nikki is so radiant you could film her with the head cleaner cassette. A self-described Norwindian (part Norwegian, part American Indian), Nikki is married to Ian Ziering of Beverly Hills 90210.
94. Elsa Sorensen
Miss Denmark, Elsa Sorensen (Miss September 1956) married and divorced singer Guy Mitchell and became a popular model in the Fifties under the names Dane Arden and Alisa Davis.
93. Janet Lupo
Miss November 1975 Janet Lupo was a Hoboken, New Jersey native whose free-flowing chestnut hair and memorably buoyant 39-inch chest made her a hippie deity. She still visits the Playboy Mansion, and on one recent occasion was grabbed by an overzealous monkey. We can’t blame him.
92. Sharon Johansen
“I’ve been in some of the most fabulous backyards in Los Angeles,” said Miss October 1972 Sharon Johansen. No, she was not a traveling barbecue chef—she was a Beverly Hills dog trainer, a career that soon found her hanging with Hollywood’s most celebrated citizenry. Sharon went on to launch a TV career, and in recent years was known as “the Hugo Girl” for her work on the Giorgio men’s fragrance.
91. Martha Smith
The Playmate portfolio of Miss July 1973 Martha Smith looks the way a mai tai tastes: refreshingly sweet, yet exotic—with a kick. Blonde and bedazzling, Martha said she wanted to be a film director, but Hollywood insisted she stay on the other side of the lens. Her famous lingerie scene in Animal House earned her spots on a variety of TV series, soaps and game shows. Today the Michigan beauty works in real estate in California.
90. Fawna MacLaren
Elle cover girl, who has worked more catwalks than a veterinarian—from France to Senegal—entered Playboy’s 35th Anniversary Playmate search and became Miss January 1989.
89. Ola Ray
With a complexion like fine suede and hair bent on sweet anarchy, Miss June 1980 Ola Ray spent her teen years in Japan, performing R&B numbers with her brothers in the clubs of Tokyo’s Ginza district. She appeared with Michael Jackson in his Thriller video and with Eddie Murphy in 48 Hrs.
88. Brandi Brandt
With the face of an innocent homecoming queen, with Chiclet teeth and high-beam eyes, posed atop a raunchy body from the wrong side of the tracks, Miss October 1987 Brandi Brandt is the daughter of veteran L.A. rocker Brie Howard. She was married for a time to Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx.
87. Jennifer Jackson
Miss March 1965 Jennifer Jackson was the Jackie Robinson of Playmates: Playboy’s first black Centerfold. In her classic photo layout—a study in soft mahogany set against candy-stripe wallpaper—Jennifer reminded readers that loveliness is color-blind. The Chicago native and her twin sister, Jan, were two of the most popular Bunnies at the Windy City Playboy Club.
86. Roberta Vasquez
A department store security guard with lush brown eyes and a black belt, Los Angeles Latina Roberta Vasquez was featured in Playboy‘s Women of Steel pictorial. She went on to cop a job with the California State Police, but Roberta’s most memorable bust came with her recruitment as Miss November 1984.
85. Sondra Theodore
In the history of Hugh Hefner’s girlfriends this would be his Blue Period. Miss July 1977 Sondra Theodore danced with the man at a Mansion party to Barry White’s Baby Blue Panties. One diamond-encrusted necklace later (which spelled out Baby Blue), Sondra was Hef’s main squeeze and remained so for five years. Although head-to-toe blonde perfection, this San Bernardino pinball fanatic was best known for her smile and for her alluringly deep chin dimple.
84. Lonny Chin
Nine years after the Beatles’ American Invasion, Liverpudlian Lonny Chin (Miss January 1983) touched down in Los Angeles, having previously lived in four different Canadian provinces. The product of a Chinese-Jamaican dad and Welsh-Swedish mom, Lonny turned out an inspiring New Year’s Centerfold, and went on to become Playboy’s first video Playmate.
83. Jami Ferrell
Bedecked only in furry white trim, and wearing a single jingle-bell diamond suspended from a gold waist chain, Miss January 1997 Jami Ferrell looks like a snow goddess on spring break in Daytona. A native of Muncie, Indiana and shyer than a newborn gazelle, Jami was one of three Playmates selected to travel to Africa for the May 1999 Playmates on Safari pictorial.
To be continued…