Marilyn Cole

Marilyn Cole
Playboy centerfold appearance
January 1972
Preceded by	Karen Christy
Succeeded by	P. J. Lansing
Playboy Playmate of the Year
1973
Preceded by	Liv Lindeland
Succeeded by	Cyndi Wood
Personal details
Height	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)

Marilyn Cole (born May 7, 1949, Portsmouth, England) was Playboy magazine's January 1972 Playmate of the Month, as well as 1973's Playmate of the Year, the first and only Briton to hold that title. Her original pictorial was photographed by Alexas Urba.

Career

Starting off as a Bunny at London's Playboy Club, Cole was pursued romantically by both Hugh Hefner and Victor Lownes, who at the time was president of Playboy Enterprises. For a period, she was involved with Roxy Music singer Bryan Ferry, appearing on the cover of Roxy Music's Stranded album. However in 1984, she and Lownes married. They live in London and New York.

Historical notability

Some Playmates since the first Playmate ever showing a glimpse of pubic hair on her centerfold, Melodye Prentiss (Miss July 1968), had allowed a partial view of their pubic hair. The first appearance of pubic hair in Playboy actually occurred in August 1969 in a pictorial featuring dancer/actress/model Paula Kelly. The 1972 Playmate of the Year, Liv Lindeland was the first actual playmate to show clearly visible pubic hair in her pictorial and centerfold. Lindeland's pictorial generated a tremendous amount of media and popular attention, Marilyn Cole's own Playboy centerfold, however, was notable for its unrestricted full-frontal nudity.

With Playmates it was usually the case that the pubic area would be obscured by an item of clothing, a leg, or a piece of furniture. If it wasn't for the fishbowl on Karen Christy's December 1971 centerfold she could have walked with the honours of the first full frontal nude centerfold. A level of exposure which was not repeated for more than over a year. Although both Carol O'Neal and Sharon Johansen had come close, in July and October of 1972, it was Bonnie Large's centerfold in March 1973 who would be the first to follow up on Marilyn's lead.

After Playboy

Cole continued to pose for Playboy. She can be seen in all of her glory in the April 1984 pictorial "Playmates Forever! Part Two" and the April 1989 feature about the "Minikini," a one-piece, totally strapless bathing suit that Marilyn marketed for a while.

Filmography

• Playboy: 50 Years of Playmates (2004) (V)
• Forty Minutes (1990) TV Episode
• V.I.P.-Schaukel (1972) TV Episode

External links

• 1 at Playboy Online