The countdown continues as we move deeper into Playboy's legendary Centerfolds of the Century ranking. In Part Two, the list advances with another remarkable collection of Playmates whose unforgettable centerfolds helped define their eras. From Hollywood stars and television personalities to international models and cultural icons, these women left an enduring mark on Playboy history and popular culture alike.
82. Melinda Windsor
Ohio native Melinda Windsor, Miss February 1966, has a degree in psychology. When driving, she does not require air bags.
81. Mara Corday
Redheaded Mara Corday shared the October 1958 Centerfold with co-Playmate Pat Sheehan. Mara became queen of the Fifties monster movies, with credits that include Tarantula, Black Scorpion and Giant Claw. She has also been featured in four Clint Eastwood films.
80. Brittany York
She swam like a fish, spoke fluent French, adorned the cover of the swimsuit issue of Sport, studied computer science and traveled the world—from Brazil to Kenya and back to her native Hong Kong. So what do people remember most about Miss October 1990 Brittany York? That she played the dental hygienist who got a rise out of Jerry on Seinfeld.
79. Dolly Read
Cute and compact, with eyes on loan from Cleopatra, former Miss Bristol Teenager Dolly Read won a nationwide British Bunny Contest sponsored by Radio London, then came to the States to train as a bumper pool Bunny at Chicago’s Playboy Club. Along the way, Dolly was named Miss May 1966, co-starred in the cult film Valley of the Dolls and nabbed Dick Martin (of Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In) as a husband.
78. Lisa Baker
Tall and tan and young and drop-dead beautiful, Miss November 1966 (and PMOY 1967) Lisa Baker was a teenage soda jerk from Broken Bow, Oklahoma who, as a bridesmaid at a friend’s Los Angeles wedding, was discovered by photographer Bill Figge. After her Playmate debut, Lisa popped up again in 1979’s Playmates Forever! pictorial, then relocated to Texas to be near her family.
77. Julie Lynn Cialini
Her legs are longer than a Bill Clinton speech, and infinitely more captivating. On her Playmate Data Sheet, Miss February 1994 Julie Lynn Cialini revealed that she once bungee-jumped 15 stories wearing only a string bikini; her pictures elicited a similar EKG spike among Playboy readers. A shoo-in as PMOY 1995, Julie went on to land a regular role on TV’s High Tide.
76. Joyce Nizzari
Miss December 1958 Joyce Nizzari was besweatered and bottomless in her snow-melting ski chalet Centerfold. Discovered by Bunny Yeager when Joyce was a teenage Miami model, she went on to enjoy a two-year fling with Hef which included such run-of-the-mill dates as trips to the Cannes Film Festival, JFK’s inauguration, Playboy’s first Jazz Fest and a romantic getaway to Havana only weeks before Castro overthrew Batista’s government.
75. Corinna Harney
Her tiny carriage, voluptuous figure and majestic mop of dirty-blonde curls made Corinna Harney, Miss August 1991 (and PMOY 1992), look like a rag doll on hormones. She followed her Playmate appearance by playing Roger Daltrey’s main squeeze in Vampirella for Showtime and appearing with Chevy Chase in National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation.
74. Penny Baker
As Playboy’s 30th Anniversary Playmate, Miss January 1984 Penny Baker looks like a recruitment poster for sin. The New York fashion model decided that posing sans fashion in the Midwest would make for a more interesting career. Good move.
73. Heidi Becker
Miss June 1961, Austrian-born Heidi Becker, Playboy’s gemütlich Playmate, is a fine piece of strudel. Her Centerfold did not include any Alpine references—just her winsome smile and her sidelong glance, which surmounted the language barrier just fine.
72. Azizi Johari
The glow of her skin moved Miss June 1975 to give herself a new name—Azizi Johari (meaning precious jewel in Swahili), a moniker conceived by old friend and jazz pianist Herbie Hancock. Born in New York City and raised in Seattle, Azizi worked as a stewardess, then as an actress, before Sammy Davis Jr. (who had been obsessed with a photo of her face) met her in person and hired her on the spot for his nightclub act.
71. Victoria Valentino
In her PLAYBOY photos, Miss September 1963 Victoria Valentino looks like a Modigliani painting come to life—doe-eyed, sensuous and clearly caught mid-thought. An actress who favored Dostoyevsky, Arabic folk dances and badminton, the Hollywood native was newly pregnant when she posed for her Centerfold, ultimately giving birth to a son who died at the age of six in a drowning accident. Today, Vicky works as a bereavement facilitator and publishes Centerfold Sweethearts for fans.
70. Patricia Farinelli
In her Playmate story, Miss December 1981 Patricia Farinelli admitted that her life changed when nature began doing its thing just below her neck: She went from “Flatty Patty” to neighborhood attraction during her junior year in high school. But down deep the Los Angeles native was an Italian American homebody who liked spaghetti, Led Zeppelin and Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord.
69. Connie Kreski
Miss January 1968 (and PMOY 1969) Connie Kreski had a flower child’s face and a penchant for wearing skirts the size of cocktail umbrellas. Raised in Detroit, she lived for a time in London and moved to Los Angeles, where she starred in an Anthony Newley sex farce and worked for the Playboy Photo Studio. Connie died of natural causes in her Beverly Hills home in 1995.
68. Avis Kimble
Just 18 when she appeared in PLAYBOY, Miss November 1962 Avis Kimble was already a nonconformist. A bohemian before it was chic to be one, the Chicago native was a watercolorist, ballerina and poet, with a partiality to Chopin, Garbo hats and unassuming men. She was also among the more enterprising Playmates, opening her own boutique in Old Town while simultaneously working as a Bunny.
67. Alana Soares
That so petite a structure could support such a generously endowed chest would have confounded the likes of Buckminster Fuller. But the 5'2", 103-pound Miss March 1983 Alana Soares pulled it off to perfection. A competitive skier with Hawaiian-Japanese-Spanish-Irish blood, she was a college student in Salt Lake City when she appeared at PLAYBOY’s door. Alana always considered herself something of a rarity: a brunette from Utah who became a Playmate.
66. Dahm triplets (Erica, Jaclyn and Nicole)
The Minneapolis-born Dahm triplets (Erica, Jaclyn and Nicole) were so hard to tell apart at birth that the doctors had to tattoo the Misses December 1998 on their triplicate backsides. Thomas Jefferson said we are all created equal, but this is absurd.
To be continued...