Christa Speck
Playboy centerfold appearance
September 1961
Preceded byKaren Thompson
Succeeded byJean Cannon
Playboy Playmate of the Year
1962
Preceded byLinda Gamble
Succeeded byJune Cochran
Personal details
Born(1942-08-01)August 1, 1942
Danzig, German Reich
DiedMarch 22, 2013(2013-03-22) (aged 70)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Height5 ft 5 in (165 cm)

Christa Speck (August 1, 1942 – March 22, 2013) was a German model and actress.[1] She was chosen as Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for the September 1961 issue, and as the 1962 Playmate of the Year.[2] Her original pictorial was photographed by Sam Wu.[3]

Career and media appearances

Speck was working as a bank secretary at Bank of America when she was discovered by Playboy.[4] She was chosen as Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for the September 1961 issue, and as the 1962 Playmate of the Year, the first foreign-born model to be so named.[3][4] She worked as a Bunny in the company's Chicago nightclub, lived in the Playboy Mansion and was featured in all of the magazine's 60s pictorials about life at the Mansion: 1961's Playmate Holiday House Party, 1963's Playmate Pillow Fight and Bunnies and 1966's The Playboy Mansion. Speck was selected by Playboy editors and readers as one of their "ten favorite Playmates from the magazine’s first decade."[4]

Her centerfold is seen in the 1978 film Animal House, which takes place in 1962. Speck is mentioned in the 2007 book Confessions of a Crabgrass Cowboy: From Lincoln Logs to Lava Lamps: Coming of Age in an Early American Suburb by William Schwarz.[5] She is also mentioned briefly in the 2011 book The Bunny Years by fellow, former Bunny Kathryn Leigh Scott.[6]

Personal life

Speck was born in Danzig, Germany (now Gdańsk, Poland).

She was later married to children's programming producer Marty Krofft.[7][8] Speck and Krofft had three daughters.

Death

Speck died of natural causes at her home in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 70.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ Corliss, Richard (January 3, 2004). "That Old Feeling: Your Grandfather's Playboy". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Archived from the original on January 9, 2004.
  2. ^ Maslowski, Peter (2005). Looking for a Hero. University of Nebraska Press. p. 307. ISBN 978-0803232440.
  3. ^ a b "Playmate data". Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d Barnes, Mike (March 29, 2013). "Celebrated Playboy Playmate Christa Speck Dies at 70". The Hollywood Reporter. ISSN 0018-3660.
  5. ^ Schwartz, William (2007). Confessions of a crabgrass cowboy : from Lincoln logs to lava lamps : coming of age in an early American suburb. New York: iUniverse. ISBN 9780595451692.
  6. ^ Scott, Kathryn Leigh (2011). The Bunny years. New York: Gallery Books. p. 57. ISBN 9781451663273.
  7. ^ Bennett, Ray (June 13, 1970). "And you thought puppets are for kids". Windsor Star.
  8. ^ Wilson, Earl (April 29, 1963). "Ava, Now Rich Realtor, May Bow Out of Films". St. Joseph Gazette.
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