PLAYBOY Centerfolds from the 1960's

Since its beginnings in Hugh Hefner's kitchen Playboy has made success out of combining pictures of nude women with well written articles. The first issues developed in the 1950's featured centerfolds who are considered today to be legendary pin-ups and Hollywood icons. The 1960's issues of Playboy saw some firsts as far as being the year in which a man first appeared on the cover (Peter Sellers in April of 1964) and the first time the magazine published a story by famed James Bond author Ian Fleming. However, once again credit should be served where credit is due, and even without the icon status gained by the women of the 50's, it was still the women posing for the Playboy centerfolds that pushed the publication onward. Therefore, I present to you now a list of some of the more notable woman who were Playboy centerfolds in the 1960's.

Stella Stevens: The centerfold for January of 1960, Stella Stevens was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi and became a Hollywood success. Considered one of the ten most photographed women of the 60's and one time listed as one of the 100 sexiest women of the 20th century, Stella bounced around between studio contracts before landing total success in her acting career. A winner of The Golden Globe award she also had starring roles along side Elvis Presley in Girls! Girls! Girls! and Jerry Lewis in The Nutty Professor. Beyond acting she produced and directed two films herself: The American Heroine(1979) and The Ranch(1989). http://www.stellastevens.biz/

Joan E. Mattis (aka Joni Mattis) : Joni was born in Chicago in 1938 and died in September of 1999 from cancer. She was the Playmate of the Month for the November of 1960 issue. Her self-proclaimed claim to fame was that she was "the most unpopular" Playmate in the history of the magazine. Joni refused to disrobe during her photo shoot and ended up receiving only one letter in regards to the centerfold at all. The letter stated she should find another line of work. She became an event planner and social secretary for Hugh Hefner as well as one of his lovers.

China Lee

Credit: Promotional Still

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