Centerfold.com : Playboy Playmates Directory : PMOY 1980-1989

• PMOY 1980-1989 •

PMOY 1989 : Kimberley Conrad

O Canada
meet kimberley conrad, vancouver's most exquisite export

When she got off the plane from Vancouver, Canadian Kimberley Conrad had a little trouble at LAX. The problem wasn't that she was carrying contraband -- it was her outfit. That day, Kim had on leopard pants, bare-midriff blouse and silver pumps, and it took inspectors the better part of an hour to clear her through U.S. Customs. "I wouldn't have minded, but I was on my way to a huge party," she says. "I couldn't wait." When Customs asked the reason for her trip to America, Kim said, "Pleasure."

Shortly after her airport encounter with Customs, Kim made her American party debut -- still attired in leopard pants, bustier blouse and silver heels -- and wowed the crowd. "Two men asked if they could buy my outfit right off my back," she says. No dice, Miss January told prospective buyers. "But I appreciated the thought." A lingerie fan, she even remembers what she had on under that costume. "A G-string. And under the blouse, of course, no bra. You can't wear a bra with a getup like that." Who would want to? "I feel sensuous in fine lingerie," she says. "I really think the key to being sexy is to think that way. I can be a flirt, but I'm very passionate by nature. In bed, I think about pleasing my man -- if it pleases him, that pleases me." When her partner is a camera, she says, "It's almost the same thing. As a model, I try to please the camera. I think of sexy things -- garter belts and French-lace bras. I think of shopping for lingerie at Neiman-Marcus or even Frederick's -- and wearing it later." Seduced yet?

"Vancouver is my home, but I think of myself as a Canadian-American," says Miss January. Born in Alabama 24 years ago, a model Canadian since she was 17, Kim has a feline grace, high cheekbones and come-on eyes that have made hers the most recognized face in Vancouver. Now, she says she wants to take on the States. As busy and beautiful as Vancouver is -- not to mention home to her fave delicacy of all time, Earl's burgers -- it ain't America. "I love that city, but I had to come here. If you want to succeed, this is where it's at. Besides," she says, "I like American men. I think they treat their women better. American men believe more in a woman's equality. They don't have to be in charge all the time. They're free spirits -- that's what I like about Americans. Don't get me wrong -- I like Canadian men too, but when I think American, I think of a guy in tight jeans, who's well built and has a suntan -- mmm, nice." Kim's appreciation of the American male is sure to be returned.

Photography by Richard Fegley

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1989 : all playmates

PMOY 1988 : India Allen

Meet India

miss december's name isn't the only exotic thing about her

For India Allen, life has offered up very few surprises -- which, when you think about it, is one of the logical benefits of having a psychic for a mother. "My mom is a really good psychic," India says. "She has always told me, 'Your picture is going to be seen everywhere.' In high school I didn't believe her, because I was very tall and real thin." But Mom, a full-blooded Algonquin Indian who has looked into the future for various celebrities and has attempted to help police solve crimes, was more specific -- she even "saw" her daughter's pictures on these pages and urged her to try out as a Playmate as soon as India turned 18. "I didn't have much self-confidence then," admits India, who's now 22. "My mom thought I had a pretty body, but I was chicken." But four years of modeling all over the United States and Europe "has really toughened me up," she says. "It's amazing that being rejected can give you so much confidence, but I've got all the confidence in the world now."

Still, India didn't give much thought to Playboy, despite Mom's early-warning system. The idea resurfaced when her agent sent her to do a small role in a short film parody of Beverly Hills Cop II, playing, appropriately enough, a Playmate in the Playboy Mansion West scene. One of the other actresses, who was perhaps overqualified for the part, was Monique St. Pierre, Playboy's Playmate of the Year in 1979. Even though India and Monique became fast friends during the shoot, India was stunned when one of the producers mentioned Monique's stint as P.M.O.Y., and even more surprised when he suggested that India should consider giving Playboy a call. India turned to Monique for advice, and Monique, after looking through India's portfolio of modeling assignments, turned from friend to unofficial agent, taking her to Playboy's West Coast photo studios on Sunset Boulevard for test shots.

"Once I walked through the doors at Playboy, I felt as if this is where I belonged," says India. "It was really weird." There's been no flak from other quarters, either. Her mother, naturally, is thrilled; her father, who took some of the early photos that helped launch her modeling career, is equally pleased. And her fiance, veterinarian Bill Garfield, surprised India with his enthusiastic support. "He's a real health fanatic," she says. "That's why he has such a good attitude about it -- he's such a body person. His body's perfect." So, apparently, are his scruples -- the pair met when India was 18 and he was 35, an age gap so large that he refused to date her. It was only after four years of long-distance friendship that he reconsidered. They now live together and plan to marry in the spring. Once again, India's mom saw it coming. "She always hinted that we would end up together," says India. And, as we have discovered, mothers definitely know best.

Photography by Arny Freytag

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1988 : all playmates

PMOY 1987 : Donna Edmondson

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1987 : all playmates

PMOY 1986 : Kathy Shower

Kathy Goes to Hollywood

miss may is probably the only tv starlet who runs her own orphanage

In a Hancock Park duplex not far from Beverly Boulevard, not far from the Hollywood Hills, not far from a whole block of neon boutiques, there is a little bit of Brookville, Ohio. You ring the bell, the door swings open and from then on, it's girls, girls, girls.

"There's no place like home," says Kathy Shower, model/actress/single mom, standing there in a yellow blouse and jeans, with a daughter attached to each leg. "Come in and sit down."

It's a dream of an apartment, a little girl's dream blown up to Panavision proportions, stuffed with toys and swathed in pastel shades. Kathy calls it The Orphanage. "I'm the Kool-Aid lady on the block. The neighborhood kids are always over here, and I like it that way." She shrugs. The girls -- Mindy is nine and Melonie is six -- entertain you with a soft shoe while Supermom, 32, runs to the kitchen. Rosie, the parrot, fluffs her feathers and squawks, "Hello!" The phone rings every minute or so. Kathy returns with a pitcher of ice water and fills a glass for each of the girls. Melonie says, "Nobody pours water like you, Mommy." The girls retire to the Cabbage Patch and Kathy sits down next to you.

She had second thoughts about posing nude, she says. If offered a nude scene in a movie, she thinks she'd want a body double.
"I talked with the girls about Playboy," she says. The girls spin in and out of the room, trading kisses for promises of Big Macs later on. "We talked about how pictures of a beautiful woman can be art, and they pretty much decided that if Mom did it, it was great. So the other day, we were driving past a Coppertone billboard, and Melonie wanted to know why that dog was pulling down the girl's pants. And Mindy said, 'Melonie, that's art!'" Kathy laughs. The girls, who have been hiding behind the couch, laugh even harder. Kathy grew up in Brookville, a little town not far from Dayton, where the only TV work is in TV repair. A self-described ugly duckling, she never even had a date until she was as old as some Playmates. Hollywood called shortly after she became a swan. A stint on Broadway as "the second-lead blank" (Brookville girls frown on profanity) in The Best Little Blankhouse In Texas led her to L.A., but Kathy wouldn't leave Brookville for the bright lights. She would take it along.

"People don't know me until they've seen my house," she says. "Here's this girl doing Los Angeles -- the New York-style work -- but living in Brookville, Ohio. "My work is hard work, long hours, constant running, but I know I can always come home, where it's Mom and the girls. Mine is the old story of the girl who goes from a small town to Hollywood, but it's been more grueling than glamorous. Still, I'm making it. I'm surviving."

Even thriving. You've seen Kathy on Three's Company, Scene of the Crime with Orson Welles, Airwolf, and Simon & Simon and in other appearances too fleeting to be remembered to anyone but a bleary tubeaholic, playing lovers and strangers, vixens and vamps. She gets respect from Hollywood, certainly, but just about everything else comes from the kids. "I've got to start dating again," she'll say. "I'm single -- very single." But tonight, the lady has more pressing concerns than dates or even work. How many neighborhood children will fit into one compact car?

"OK, let's go to McDonald's."

The girls applaud and outkick the Rockettes. Kathy goes to turn off the TV. On the screen, a pretty blonde is tumbling out of a limousine.

"No matter what I do, no matter how hard the day may be," she says, "I'm a star to the girls. When I come home, they'll run up and yell, 'Mom, we saw you on television!' "

Mindy and Melonie watch, but Kathy doesn't. "I don't sit at home and watch when I'm on TV," she says. "It's probably the same thing a lot of people feel -- I'm just not comfortable watching my picture on the screen. I don't usually get the blone-bombshell bimbos. So it's not that I'm disappointed in the way it comes off. But I still think of myself as that gangly ugly duckling in Ohio."

That girl was the one all the other kids said had personality -- adolescent code for "something less than killer looks."

"I didn't look...well, exactly the way I do now. I go back for reunions and they say, 'My, how she's changed.' "

These days, when she's not on the arm of the star of the show, Kathy is likely to be flying out of a fast-moving vehicle. That's the lot of the Hollywood blonde.

"Getting paid to fall out of a car is one of the things that make my best girlfriend yell 'Perspective!' I'll grumble a little about it, and she'll want to know if they need somebody to fall out of the other side."

Kathy smiles. Perspective means knowing that most people have nine-to-five jobs.

The girls wrestle with their shoes and socks as Kathy talks about her most recent, most eye-opening appearance.

"I can't quite comprehend being Miss May, the glamorous girl of the month," she says. "But I want to be seen as a complete woman. I'm a single parent, acting and modeling, singing and dancing, pursuing a career and, at the same time, being mother, father, grandparent, teacher -- all these things wrapped up into one. And being very appealing to the male audience, being aware of my sexuality. Sexuality is hard to put into words; I guess the pictures will speak for themselves. What I want to get across is that there are many faces to a woman. Not just me, all women." She smiles. "We're a pretty good breed."

Rosie, the parrot, says, "All right!"

Photography by Richard Fegley, Stephen Wayda

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1986 : all playmates

PMOY 1985 : Karen Velez

Thinking Big

for karen velez, two's company, but 12 is ideal

Karen Velez had been in Los Angeles only a short time, but she had already found the Bodhi Tree Bookstore. The Bodhi Tree is stocked to the rafters with metaphysical tomes. Eastern philosophies, sorcery, ESP -- anything with a "psycho" in front or an "ology" in back that can alter one's perception of reality. Karen was there looking for Peace of Mind, Volume One. Naturally, it wasn't on the shelf, but we browsed and talked all the same.

"I don't think the average person would read anything that I've got on my bookshelves. I'm basically interested in things out of the ordinary. I like change. I don't like doing the same thing every Saturday night."

Karen knows about Saturday nights. In Miami, where she grew up, she sometimes had them on Tuesday or Thursday. That left little time for high school.

"By the time I was in ninth grade, I was skipping school and hanging out at my girlfriend's house, playing backgammon." By tenth grade, she dropped out.

"My mind gets to a point where it just stops, and I'm bored with everything. So I move on to something different."

The "something different" that time was Omni Terminals, a shipping-container-repair firm, where she made "good money" and rose to the position of vice-president. But greener pastures beckoned, so after five years she left.

"Anyway, I did graduate. I went back last year and passed my G.E.D. with flying colors. Got my high school diploma. Took six years, but I did it."

Not surprising, really. Karen can do anything she puts her mind to, as long as she's not asked to be ordinary. She intends, for instance, to have ten kids.

"I want ten children, yes. And I want one of those ideal husbands who doesn't exist anymore -- someone to talk to and say, 'Hey, something is bothering me. Can we talk about it?'"

Such an entreaty from such a beauty would be hard to ignore. Five bucks that she gets the chat -- and the ten children.

Photography by Arny Freytag

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1985 : all playmates

PMOY 1984 : Barbara Edwards

Portrait of the Artist

introducing barbara edwards, our inventive miss september

Barbara Edwards has blossomed. There were those who thought it would never happen. And if it ever did, not quite so...gloriously. She was, after all, a bit of a cutup early on, her mind never quite focusing on the subject at hand; instead, wandering, dreaming. She admits it: "This kid did sooo badly in high school. I never liked it."

As it turned out, she had an excuse for her eccentric behavior. A classic excuse. She was an artist. She found that out in her senior year of high school, when a teacher took some of her drawings from her first art class and submitted them to a scholarship board; to everyone's surprise, she won an art scholarship to Orange Coast College. That affirmation of her talent was to Barbara an affirmation of her worth, and she was inspired.

In the world of art, Barbara found a place where she was comfortable. Well, almost.

"I took a life-drawing class my first semester," she recalls, "and the first day, this guy walked out with a robe on, and when he dropped the robe, I couldn't believe it. I didn't know the models would be nude! I could have died, I was so embarrassed. After a while, of course, I got used to it, and soon all the bodies looked the same, but that was the most trying class I ever took."

One of four daughters of a Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, Barbara Edwards had been obliged to toe the line while growing up. The family moved around a lot. She was born in New Mexico and has lived "in Virginia, the South, and California, but I really consider Hawaii my home. I spent the best years of my life there, all through junior high and high school. We never even studied American history, only about Hawaii and Tahiti and the Philippines. I didn't even know who the Presidents were until we came to the mainland. I knew Lincoln and Washington and that's it. But I could name all the kings and queens of Hawaii."

At Orange Coast College, things changed for her. "I don't know what happened, but I was getting A's and B's. That had never been the case before. In college, you have to go to school or it's a waste of time. I started getting good grades, and I wanted more. I've got two more years to go. I already have enough credits for my art degree, but I want to get a science degree also."

Now attending Saddleback College North in Irvine, California, Barbara is enthusiastic about life. While working toward a commercial-art career, she is trying her hand at modeling and so far has been very successful. She still likes to play around but not in class.

"I like to go to parties," she says, "and I love to dance. And I like to go to plays and the ballet. I like parties especially because I like to meet people. When I go somewhere, I have to meet everybody in the place. Especially famous people. I've met a lot of them since I've been out here."

Admittedly star-struck, Barbara has a growing autograph collection, but she's unlikely to get one from any of those artists who head her list of all-time favorites. "I worship Da Vinci. I also love Rembrandt and Michelangelo and Rodin. He's the best. Isn't he the best? I flew all the way back East, spent all the money I had saved, just to see an exhibit of his work."

"I can't wait to start working," she told us. "I sold a drawing of a foot to a magazine once. I got only $25 for that, but it sure was exciting to see it in the magazine. I kept telling people, 'That's my foot!'"

Barbara's not bragging, just proud. When you've finally found your niche, a little pride is in order.

Photography by Ken Marcus, Kerry Morris, Arny Freytag

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1984 : all playmates

PMOY 1983 : Marianne Gravatte

Model Citizen

marianne gravatte may have been backward as a schoolgirl, but now she has everything going in the right direction

At one point during our recent conversation with Marianne Gravatte, she whipped out a comb, ran it through her sunny locks, then braided them into a pigtail at the nape of her neck. She added a spangle from her purse to the end of the pigtail and tied a brightly colored band around her forehead. The whole process seemed to take seconds. She was instantly transformed from lush and lovely into bright and sporty. Amazingly, although she had not once consulted a mirror, the finished coif was perfectly done. The change was significant. In that moment, she had gone from professional model to private person, and she seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Private person, you see, is a bit of an understatement. Marianne is one of the quietest, shiest people we've ever run across. For her to be a model is a triumph of paper over scissors or like running water backward. Yet she is determined to make it in one of the most public of professions.

Marianne has been modeling for a year now. She has appeared in ads for jeans, wet suits, beer, pools and motorcycles. For a shy girl, she moves a lot of product. But each time she is asked to appear before the camera, she swallows hard.

"Right now, she told us, I'm the least shy I've ever been in my life. There was a time when if I didn't know a phone number, I would be too embarrassed to call Information. At school, I would never do an oral book report. I'd arrange to be absent on that day. But gradually, I'm getting out of it. Every job I do now gets a little easier for me." Marianne is at a loss to explain why she is so reserved. Her startling looks may have something to do with it. She simply attracts attention whether or not she wants to. And, as she says, "Being the center of attention makes me nervous." As a result, she avoids public contact as much as she can. Raised in a Los Angeles suburb, she still lives there, driving to the city only for a modeling call. "I don't like cities; they're too noisy. I feel best in the mountains, where it's quiet." One of her favorite places to be is along the Colorado River, where she and her boyfriend regularly go for a little boating and water-skiing. There, in the bosom of nature, she is at peace. "The air is clean and dry and the sun is warm, not hot and sticky as it is in the city. I like the feeling of having nothing to do but lie in the sun." Her love of the river is surpassed only by her love of animals. At one time, she wanted to be a zookeeper, "just to feed the baby animals all day," until she learned that such a job would take seven years of schooling. Now she is content to play zookeeper to her seven cats and two birds. Only one of the cats was purchased; the rest are strays she has taken in. Cats do not make her nervous.

Appropriately, one of Marianne's screen idols is Clint Eastwood, known for playing the strong, silent type. Marianne hasn't got the strong part down yet, but she's working on it. Her appearance in Playboy, as you may imagine, is a big step for her. There is resolve in her voice as she explains her coming out: "I figured, for once in my life, I'm going to take a chance!"

For someone with Marianne's looks and quiet charm, it's hardly a gamble.

Photography by Richard Fegley

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1983 : all playmates

PMOY 1982 : Shannon Lee Tweed

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1982 : all playmates

PMOY 1981 : Terri Welles

Golden Girl

we finally landed ex-flight attendant terri welles -- now we're walking on air

Good-looking girls don't have it easy. It's not so much that people try to take advantage of them; it's more that they're constantly being underestimated. Anyone who underestimates Terri Welles had better duck. She's a scrapper.

Take the time she was pulled over for speeding just after having entered a freeway in her home state of California. Terri was charged with doing 63 where only the double nickel was allowed.

Now, she didn't think she'd been on the freeway long enough for the officer to have measured her speed accurately. So just before her court date, she got into her car and checked the distance on her odometer from the on ramp where she'd started to the off ramp beside which she'd been pulled over. When her case came up, the patrolman testified he'd clocked her over a one-mile distance, but Terri produced homemade maps showing that it was only six tenths of a mile. Case dismissed. Had it not been a courtroom, Terri would have gotten a standing ovation. A move like that takes confidence, poise and intelligence. Terri just happens to have all three in abundance. Cynics, of course, would scoff at the idea that any girl who looks like Terri could lack self-confidence. But then, they didn't see her at the age of 14, when sheer boredom caused her to balloon to 180 pounds. "One day, I just rolled out of bed -- I mean, literally rolled. That's when I put the nix on eating."

Although it didn't seem so at the time, putting on the weight may have been best thing that could have happened to her. When you're a 180-pound 14-year old, you develop a quick wit and a sparkling personality or you just don't survive.

When the weight finally went away, her beauty surfaced and the wit remained. By her senior year in high school, modeling offers were coming in. But Terri wasn't quite ready for that life yet. First she did secretarial work in a loan office, where hard work soon got her promoted to escrow officer. "I was quite proud of myself for that," she says, "but eventually I felt too confined by it. Something inside me kept saying, 'Get out, get out!!'"

So she hopped on a plane; in fact, she hopped on a lot of planes. As a stewardess. First for PSA, then for United. And that's when we got lucky.

An old friend, who just happened to be the brother of Playmate Sondra Theodore, took Terri to visit Playboy Mansion West. Making a splash in that sea of beauty isn't easy, unless you're Terri Welles. She created a tidal wave of enthusiasm. Coincidentally, we were planning our pictorial on flight attendants at the time. Terri was asked -- or, rather, implored, cajoled and begged -- to be the cover girl for that issue. The lure of bright lights finally convinced her to take the big step into modeling. She relented, and her career was launched.

Terri was an immediate hit. Naturally, in the back of our mind, a centerfold was taking shape: her shape. Then, just before she was to leave for a modeling assignment in Japan, Terri agreed to a Playmate shooting. Wasting no time, we dispatched a photographer to follow her to the Orient. You're enjoying the results of the trip here.

What the camera couldn't record is the amazing effect Terri has on all who meet her. Blessed with a verve and easy good humor that are absolutely infectious, this bright, vivacious lady is obviously from a special mold. There's only one Terri Welles.

Photography by Richard Fegley

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1981 : all playmates

PMOY 1980 : Dorothy Stratten

She'll Take Romance

our gorgeous miss august, an import from north of the border, claims the tender touch warms her heart. bring on the violins.

"I'm definitely a sucker for the romantic approach," admits Vancouver-born Dorothy Stratten, a statuesque blonde who also happens to have been a finalist in our Great Playmate Hunt. "Romance is effective for me," she continues, "because I'm a very sensitive person. I can laugh and cry over something in the same moment. Small romantic gestures -- like getting flowers at an unexpected moment -- really turn me on; but my main romantic daydream is to be up in the mountains with lots of snow on the ground, in some rustic old cabin with a roaring fire, a candlelight dinner for two, and later, wine on the couch by the fire and soft music. I know it sounds old-fashioned in a way, but I don't care."

When she's not concocting romantic scenarios, Dorothy, who recently moved south to sunny Los Angeles from British Columbia, attends an exercise class regularly ("I'm so paranoid about getting fat -- it's the most neurotic thing about me"), takes acting classes ("I'd like to be competent in all types of acting -- romance, drama, comedy, even horror"), works as a Bunny at the L.A. club and writes poetry -- romantic poetry, of course. "I think I express myself better in poetic form," Dorothy muses. "I'm basically a very shy person and I often get frustrated trying to express myself verbally, so I'll just write a poem for a friend and communicate my feelings that way. I get my inspiration at the strangest times, though--in the shower, at the dinner table, on a bus. But no matter where I am, I just have to write my thoughts down immediately." Although Dorothy's poetry is not intended for publication, she did consent to let us print the following verse: "The intimate feeling / of your touch / your body / against mine / embraced / and protected. Words are spared / but are not needed / because the message / is felt / mutually. In your absence / my mind is still / on our time spent / but also, / my mind / is on tomorrow / hoping it will be / as the yesterday / we were together / because / I love you."

Photography by Mario Casilli

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1980 : all playmates

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• PMOY 1980-1989 •