Playmate - Playboy magazine's Sweetheart

 

2004 Playmate of the Year Carmella DeCesare meets with fans
2004 Playmate of the Year Carmella DeCesare meets with fans

A Playmate is a female model featured in the centerfold/gatefold of Playboy magazine as Playmate of the Month (or PMOM). The PMOM's pictorial includes nude photographs and a centerfold poster, as well as a short biography and the "Playmate Data Sheet", which lists her birthdate, measurements, turn-ons, and turn-offs. At the end of the year, one of the twelve Playmates of the Month is named Playmate of the Year (PMOY). Playmates of the Month are paid $25,000 USD and the Playmate of the Year receives an additional $100,000 USD plus a car and a motorcycle. In addition, Anniversary Playmates are usually chosen to celebrate a milestone year of the magazine. As of September 2006, 635 women have been Playmates of the Month.

Playboy encourages potential Playmates to send photos with "girl next door" appeal for consideration; others may submit photos of Playmate candidates, and are eligible for a $2,500 USD finder's fee if their model is selected. In addition, "casting calls" are held regularly in major U.S. cities to offer opportunities for women to test for Playboy. The Playboy photographers and Hugh Hefner then select which models become Playmates. The Playmate of the Year is chosen personally by Hugh Hefner, taking into account an annual readers' poll.

According to Playboy,there is no such thing as a former Playmate, “Once a Playmate, always a Playmate”.

 

History

The first model called a Playmate of the Month was Margie Harrison, Miss January 1954 (the second issue of Playboy). (Marilyn Monroe, who was featured in the first issue, was "Sweetheart of the Month".) Generally a woman may only appear once as a Playmate, but in the early years of the magazine some models were featured multiple times. Marilyn Waltz (February 1954, April 1954, April 1955 — her first appearance was as Margaret Scott) and Janet Pilgrim (July 1955, December 1955, and October 1956) are tied for the most appearances. Margie Harrison (January 1954, June 1954) and Marguerite Empey (May 1955, February 1956) are the only other women to appear more than once as Playmates.

Under current law in most US jurisdictions, publishing nude pictures of a model younger than 18 would be a felony. However, in the early years of the magazine, laws regarding corruption of a minor were less well established. Several playmates - including Nancy Crawford (April 1959), Donna Michelle (December 1963), Linda Moon (October 1966), and Teddi Smith (July 1960) - posed when they were seventeen. Elizabeth Ann Roberts (January 1958) posed when she was sixteen. Hugh Hefner and Roberts' mother were arrested as a result but the case was subsequently dismissed because Roberts' mother had signed a statement that her daughter was eighteen before the photoshoot.[2] In more recent years, Ursula Buchfellner posed for the German edition of Playboy when she was sixteen and subsequently posed for the American edition (October 1979) when she was eighteen.

Traditionally, PMOYs are announced in May of each year at a media luncheon at the Playboy Mansion. Each year's Playmate of the Year appears on the cover of her PMOY issue - the issue in which her PMOY pictorial is featured, usually the June issue of the next year after her first appearance in the magazine, sometimes the July issue. However, from 2003 to 2005, PMOYs did not appear on the covers of their PMOY issues, and 2007 PMOY Sara Jean Underwood did not, either. Instead, celebrities appearing in celebrity pictorials in the PMOY issues have appeared on the covers.

The first Playmate to show pubic hair (although hardly visible) on her centerfold was Gloria Root, Miss December 1969. The first full frontal nude centerfold was Liv Lindeland's (January 1971). An underwater photo by Russ Meyer taken of Marguerite Empey for her second appearance as a Playmate in February 1956 also showed pubic hair, but this photo did not attract public attention as much as Lindeland's centerfold appearance. Neither did a picture showing the corner of Melodye Prentiss's pubic hair in July 1968. The trend of playmates showing pubic hair would continue in the 1970s and 1980s. In September 2001, Dalene Kurtis became the first Playmate to appear without any pubic hair. Another trend to start in the 1990s was the appearance of body piercing, such as navel piercing, and tattoos on the bodies of Playmates.

Notable Playmates

Playmates who became known for more than their Playboy appearance(s) include (with the date of their appearance):

Anniversary Playmates

Playmate firsts

 See also

Notes

  1. ^ Playboy.com: Playmate Milestones
  2. ^ a b Acocella, Joan. "The Girls Next Door", The New Yorker, 2006-03-20, p. 144. Retrieved on 2006-06-06. 

References

External links


 

 
 
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