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Hello and thanks for stopping by my page! As a very early Playmate, my experience with Playboy has been quite different from what many Playmates of today are accustomed to. I've never been to the Mansion, and I've never even met Hugh Hefner! But I will always be a Playmate in my heart, and thankfully I am now keeping myself more involved with the Playboy family.
Currently I live in Florida, not far from Orlando. It is beautiful here year round, and I am fortunate to have three of my four children living nearby. My husband is still as proud of me as ever -- when we built our pool here, he had a Playboy Rabbit Head tiled into the bottom of the pool. But I do miss New York, as I was born and raised in the Bronx.
One of my favorite memories from growing up in New York is the summer home we kept on Coney Island. I lived for the times when my entire family would go there. We walked along the boardwalk and lay out on the beach, ate Nathan's hot dogs (the best, in my opinion!) and rode all the rides. Being a daredevil, I loved the roller coasters.
I chose to attend an all-girls school in the Bronx. There was a boys school right next door and they were such dolls. But I really loved my school, and I made many wonderful friends there.
In June of 2000, I was able to take the trip of a lifetime with my husband.
For a whole year, I kept planning the trip, keeping my fingers crossed that it would become a reality. Alaska left a lifetime impression -- the vast beauty of each ice glacier, magnificent mountains painted against blue skies, breathtaking rapids racing furiously against ridge rocks echoing a roaring sound. During my fourteen days in Alaska, ten were on land and four on a cruise. I traveled 1,400 miles by train and bus to get to each destination. I would like to share with you some memorable pictures of my dream come true. Enjoy!
During high school, I began to notice that people were attracted to me, that heads would turn when I entered a room. I felt good about myself, and I decided to try out modeling. I took classes at the Arleen Stone modeling school and trained with photographer Peter Basch. He eventually hooked me up with photographer Herman Leonard, who was looking for some fresh new faces. So Herman took a few semi-nude pictures of me -- "cheesecake pictures," he called them. He sent these to Playboy, Hef decided he liked them, and that led to my appearance in Playboy magazine. At the time, I was very nervous. I thought, Who's going to see this? I had no idea what Playboy was. But I thought the pictures were very classy, although they were considered taboo in those days.
By the time my issue came out, I was working at the telephone company in New York. Let's just say that my sudden burst of fame didn't go over well with my employers. Suddenly my picture was up everywhere in the office and male co-workers were asking for autographs. The company had to let me go.
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Me in 1939, two years old
My husband had this
designed for me on the
bottom of our pool.
My backyard pool
Photo by Pete Basch
Head shot taken for Playboy
Photo by Herman Leonard
Photos by Herman Leonard
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