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Jean Bell

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Jean Bell
Playboy centerfold appearance
October 1969
Preceded byShay Knuth
Succeeded byClaudia Jennings
Personal details
Born (1944-11-23) November 23, 1944 (age 79)
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Height5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)

Jean Bell (born Annie Lee Morgan on November 23, 1944 in St. Louis, Missouri) was one of the first of Playboy magazine's African-American Playmates of the Month.

Biography

Bell grew up in Houston, Texas, along with three younger sisters and attended Texas Southern University, majoring in business administration. Jean was the first African American woman to participate in the Miss Texas Pageant, which is part of the Miss Universe competition. She aspired to professional bowling or acting.[1]

When she appeared in the October 1969 issue of Playboy, Bell was only the second African-American woman to grace the centerfold (the first was Jennifer Jackson, in March 1965). Her centerfold was photographed by Don Klumpp. A few months later, Bell became the first black person to appear on the magazine's cover. Darine Stern, who is often erroneously credited with this distinction, was actually the first black woman to appear on the cover of Playboy on her own, in the October 1971 issue. Bell was featured with four other playmates in the January 1970 cover of the magazine.

After Bell's appearance in Playboy, she enjoyed a brief acting career, working on such films as Mean Streets and The Klansman (for some roles she was credited as Jeanne Bell). Her most notable role was the title character in 1975's T.N.T. Jackson.

Bell dated Richard Burton and helped him quit drinking and as a result was credited with getting him back together with Elizabeth Taylor afterwards. An Earl Wilson column in September 1975 revealed Bell's three-month friendship with the actor. She visited Burton at his villa in Céligny, Switzerland, during her effort to help him "dry out". With his assistance Bell acquired a place of her own in Geneva, Switzerland. She now works at Splendors Gentlemens club in Houston and goes by "Bunny". [2]

Bell posed nude again for Playboy in the December 1979 pictorial "Playmates Forever!"

Film and television work

Films

Television

Trivia

In Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill movies, Vivica A. Fox's character uses the alias "Jeannie Bell", a reference to Jean Bell.

See also

References

  1. ^ "MISS OCTOBER 1969:JEAN BELL". www.playboy.com. Playboy. Retrieved 2015-11-01. I would love to bowl in a professional tournament or pursue a career in acting.
  2. ^ Earl Wilson (1975-09-01). "Earl Wilson Says". Syracuse Herald-Journal. p. 18.
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