65. CHRISTINE MADDOX
The December 1973 Centerfold catches achingly attractive Christine Maddox in the middle of brushing her hair—a lustrous off-ramp of brown that cruises down her back, finally tapering off at the sweet speed bump of her backside. Christine is so innocent that she thought Screw magazine was a hardware catalog.
64. ANNA-MARIE GODDARD
January 1994 Centerfold and 40th Anniversary Playmate, Holland-born Anna-Marie Goddard, she of the inverted nipples, could really get us in Dutch.
63. MONIQUE ST. PIERRE
Miss November 1978 (and PMOY 1979) German-born Monique St. Pierre was an adventure in unmitigated carnality. Her sugar-cubed teeth and gangbanged hair caused complete strangers of either sex to go into estrus when she entered the room.
62. VAN BREESCHOOTEN TWINS
The September 1989 Centerfold was supersized for good reason: The subjects were Karin and Mirjam Van Breeschooten, 18-year-old twins from Rotterdam. With green eyes, blonde hair and stone-hard double Dutch bodies, they were identical except for Karin's tiny birthmark. Can you find it?
61. DONNA D'ERRICO
Miss September 1995 Donna D'Errico has an angel face and sumptuous shape that are almost too high-concept—indeed, one might suspect she was created by some zealous lonely guy at Industrial Light and Magic. Not so. The fair-haired and exceedingly fit Catholic schoolgirl from Georgia—discovered by PLAYBOY when she was a Las Vegas limo driver—was real enough to beam herself up from Centerfold to a regular spot on Baywatch and Baywatch Nights.
60. BARBARA EDWARDS
Seeing Barbara Edwardsnude is as painful and engrossing as a round of autoerotic strangulation. If it weren't for the floor, her legs would go on forever. Miss September 1983 (and PMOY 1984) is so enchanting, as Raymond Chandler said, that she would've made a bishop put his foot through a stained-glass window.
59. KATHY SHOWER
A single mother (of two daughters), Kathy Shower—Miss May 1985, PMOY 1986—lives and works in Barcelona. As Kathy's blonde hair explodes like a phosphorus hand grenade, she looks as helpless as a cat without a tongue.
58. ELLEN STRATTON
Miss December 1959 and first PMOY Ellen Stratton was the daughter of Mississippi sharecroppers who moved west in 1949 “by way of Steinbeck—seven of us in a car” to pick cotton in Bakersfield, California. If PLAYBOY did no more in 47 years than save this beautiful child from a life of cotton picking, it would be more than enough.
57. CONNIE MASON
Connie Mason, Miss June 1963, started as a Camera Bunny at the Miami Club. Through a chance encounter with Oleg Cassini and, down the line, a meeting with model agency honcho Eileen Ford, she became a fashion model in New York. She also starred in the first two no-budget ghoulie flicks, Blood Feast and Two Thousand Maniacs.
56. ANGELA DORIAN
Built like a mainframe, Miss September 1967 (PMOY 1968) Angela Dorian was all photo opportunity. Renamed by her agent in memory of the sunken ocean liner (she was born Victoria Verri), the preposterously shapely San Franciscan sang, danced, sketched, played guitar, drove a Porsche and was a TV regular with appearances on Bonanza, Perry Mason and The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
55. KAREN PRICE
Buff and busty, Miss January 1981 Karen Price appeared in her Centerfold lounging on a fur throw, dark bronze curls fanned above her head, mouth slightly ajar and a diaphanous robe invitingly unfurled. You may exhale now. A step ahead of the health club rage, the Pasadena native knew how to put her retina-detaching body to work as an acrobat and gymnastics coach and was one of the most active participants in the Dear Playmates advice-to-readers column.
54. LINDA GAMBLE
With her astonishing slate-gray bedroom eyes, a lower lip that seemed bruised by making out and nipples as pink as sunshine through a white cat’s ear, it’s no wonder that the young men around Linda Gamble, Miss April 1960 (PMOY 1961), didn’t have to leave themselves wake-up calls.
53. STACY SANCHES
Miss March 1995 Stacy Sanches is so thoroughly Texas, it’s remarkable she doesn’t sweat barbecue sauce. Standing five-foot-ten, with a Big D figure to boot, Stacy was working for her daddy’s custom-pickup-truck business when PLAYBOY spotted her. After being named 1996 Playmate of the Year, the weight-lifting country girl took her infectious twang to Hollywood.
52. TERRI WELLES
Terri Welles, Miss December 1980 (and PMOY 1981), married pro hockey player Charlie Simmer. In her Centerfolds of the Century photo Terri looks like a goalie, graceful knees together, trying to stop a slap shot.
51. PETRA VERKAIK
Miss December 1989 Petra Verkaik was accidentally run over by her own VW van in the parking lot next to PLAYBOY’s offices—only to be saved from serious injury by her 37-inch bust. The superbly top-heavy Californian with the exotic features and the arresting name went on to appear as Al Bundy’s dream girl in Married With Children.
50. LISA MATHEWS
Fair-haired and fit with a grin that could power a breeder reactor, Lisa Mathews, Miss April 1990 (and PMOY 1991), puts out vibes that are quintessentially American, down to the star-spangled gleam in her eye. A successful model at age 17, Peoria-born Lisa, along with Kimberley Conrad Hefner, commandeered Playboy’s Operation Desert Storm letter-writing campaign.
49. CHINA LEE
Miss August 1964 China Lee was the only one in her family of 11 not to enter the restaurant business—she already had too much on her plate. A native of New Orleans, the Playboy Club Training Bunny turned Playmate was also a swimmer, equestrienne, bowler, ping-pong expert and unofficial Playmate twist champ. She had the title role in Woody Allen’s What’s Up, Tiger Lily? and went on to marry and divorce humorist Mort Sahl (twice), buy racehorses and gamble professionally.
48. ALLISON PARKS
It looks like Miss October 1965 (and PMOY 1966) Allison Parks was run over by one of those highway white-line painters. The intensity of her glance and the forthrightness of her spirit radiate outward like a solar wind.
47. JAIME BERGMAN
Jaime Bergman, Miss January 1999 (and the 45th Anniversary Playmate) strongly resembles the great Dale Evans. Jaime, who hails from Salt Lake City, surprised the Mormons back home with a cowgirl getup that included a Stetson, boots, chaps, a tumbleweed between her legs—and not much else.
46. EVE MEYER
From the first Playmate to be custom-shot from a pencil sketch by Art Director Arthur Paul, Miss June 1955 Eve Meyer was photographed by her husband, future erotic film auteur Russ Meyer. In her Centerfold, Eve appears barely clad in sky blue chiffon, lounging on a shag in front of a fireplace, with two drinks within reach (the second presumably for an unseen guest). Eve produced Russ Meyer’s first films but died tragically in a two-jet collision over the Canary Islands.
45. MARGUERITE EMPEY
Marguerite Empey, here seen bathing in a wok, was twice a Playmate—Miss May 1955 and Miss February 1956 (the second shoot was by Russ Meyer). A practicing nudist who studied ballet and taught belly dancing, Marguerite was cover girl for the first Playmate Calendar, in 1958. Her popularity as a Fifties pin-up prompted Gay Talese to interview her (under her married name, Diane Webber) for his book on the sexual revolution, Thy Neighbor’s Wife.
To be continued...