Marilyn Cole
Playboy centerfold appearance
January 1972
Preceded byKaren Christy
Succeeded byP. J. Lansing
Playboy Playmate of the Year
1973
Preceded byLiv Lindeland
Succeeded byCyndi Wood
Personal details
Born (1949-05-07) 7 May 1949 (age 74)
Gosport, Hampshire, England[1]
Height5 ft 8 in (173 cm)[1]

Marilyn Cole (born 7 May 1949)[1] was Playboy magazine's January 1972 Playmate of the Month. She was the magazine's first full-frontal nude centerfold.[2][a] She also became 1973's Playmate of the Year, becoming the only Briton to hold that title. Her original pictorial was photographed by Alexas Urba.[1]

Career

Cole worked at a Post Office punched card unit in Portsmouth Central Telephone Exchange, before working, for £12 weekly, at the Portsmouth Co-op Fuel Office, when she was interviewed to be a Playboy Bunny at the London Playboy Club.[4] She worked as a bunny from 1971 to 1974, and, within a few days of starting work there, was noticed by Victor Lownes and test-photographed for the magazine.[2] Marilyn also worked as a barmaid at the Auckland Arms Hotel in Southsea during the late 60s.

She appeared on the cover of the Roxy Music album Stranded, having been noticed by Bryan Ferry after winning Playmate of the Year. She had previously appeared on the covers of various Top of the Pops albums.[5]

Personal life

She was married to former Playboy executive Victor Lownes,[5] over 20 years her senior, until his death in 2017, and now works as a journalist.[2] Among the subjects she writes about is professional boxing, which she began covering in 2000.[6]

Her interests include the tango, which she studied under Paul Pellicoro,[7] and has partnered with actor Brian Cox.[8]

Filmography

Notes

  1. ^ Since her pubic hair was partly covered by the shadow cast from the book in her hand, Bonnie Large, the Playmate of the Month for March 1973, is often regarded as the first Playmate of the Month to appear clearly full frontal nude.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Playmate data". Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  2. ^ a b c Van Praagh, Anna, "Playboy bunnies 50 years on" Telegraph (23 May 2010)
  3. ^ Playboy Playmate of the MonthArchived 28 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Jenkins, David (15 May 2010). "50 years of the bunny girl:Hugh Hefner on a life with controversial pop icon". The Independent. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  5. ^ a b Barrell, Tony, "Cover Stories", Sunday Times (11 November 2007)
  6. ^ Lownes, Marilyn Cole, "How I fell in love with the fight game", The Observer (30 November 2003)
  7. ^ Scott, Janny, "Flirting with the tango", New York Times (11 June 1999)
  8. ^ Grove, Valerie, "Brian Cox plays Humbert Humbert in Lolita", Sunday Times (29 August 2009)

External links

Playboy Playmates of 1972
Playboy Playmates of the Year
Authority control databases
Categories