Candy Loving

{{short description|American model (born 1956)}} {{Infobox Playboy Playmate  | image =  | imagesize = | caption = | name = Candy Loving | issue = January 1979 | birth_name = | birth_place = Oswego, Kansas, United States<ref name=pigs /> | birth_date = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1956|09|04}} | death_date = | death_place = | height = {{height|ft=5|in=7}}<ref name=pigs /> | preceded = Janet Quist | succeeded = Lee Ann Michelle | website = }}

'''Candy Loving''' (born '''Candis Loving'''; September 4, 1956)<ref name=pigs>{{cite web|url=http://wekinglypigs.com/cgi-bin/nand/search/pmstat?browse=%3A%3ACONFIG%3A%3Amodelbrowse&key=loving%2C+candy&limit=0 |title=Playmate data|access-date=February 5, 2010}}</ref> is an American model. She was ''Playboy's'' Playmate of the Month for the January 1979 issue, which made her the magazine's 25th Anniversary Playmate.<ref name=pigs /> Her centerfold was photographed by Dwight Hooker.<ref name=pigs />

==Early life== Loving was born Candis Loving in Oswego, Kansas, on September 4, 1956, and moved to Ponca City, Oklahoma, at the age of three with her mother and four siblings.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Frolik |first=Joe |date=1979-08-01 |title=...but the real attraction is a special Playmate |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103678909/but-the-real-attraction-is-a-special-pla/],[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103678909/but-the-real-attraction-is-a-special-pla/] |work=Austin American-Statesman |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103678909/but-the-real-attraction-is-a-special/ |access-date=2022-06-13}}</ref> She graduated from Ponca City High School in 1974 and married Ron Prather. She then enrolled as a public relations major at the University of Oklahoma.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brunjes |first=Amy F. |date=1983-01-20 |title=Playmate perfect - and loving it |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15805397/19830120-page-1/],[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15805360/19830120-page-2/] |work=South Florida Sun Sentinel |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15805397/19830120-page-1/ |access-date=2022-06-13}}</ref>

==''Playboy'' career== In 1978, ''Playboy'' began a yearlong nationwide Great Playmate Hunt for its 25th-anniversary publication. She was a junior at the University of Oklahoma,<ref name=":0" /> and working in a dress shop and as a waitress when she saw the ad in the paper. At the urging of her then-husband, Loving entered the contest and photographer Dwight Hooker shot the test photos of her. Seven months later the 22-year-old college student beat out more than 3,500 other models. Her centerfold came out in the January 1979 issue. That year, she took advantage of her celebrity status and moved out to California to pursue acting and modeling. She traveled the world as the ambassador of ''Playboy'' magazine<ref name="Lott">{{cite web |author=Rod Lott |date=12 February 2013 |title=Loving Candy |url=https://www.okgazette.com/oklahoma/loving-candy/Content?oid=2953485 |newspaper=Oklahoma Gazette}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1291&dat=19840201&id=8dsPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bY0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3856,158439&hl=en |first=Skip|last=Sheffield|title=Playmate appreciates life outside the centerfold|newspaper=Boca Raton News|date=1 February 1984|page=17|via=Google News Archive}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://autoculture.org/?p=2618 |title=Girls of Yore: Candy Loving}}</ref><ref>Chillicothe, Missouri, ''Constitution Tribune'', "Centerfold Candy", December 6, 1978, page 9</ref> during the 25th-anniversary celebrations, taking a year out of college to do so. Promotional appearances included the National Press Club in Washington D.C.,<ref name=WP>{{cite news|title=Playboy of the Washington Whirl|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1979/01/10/playboy-of-the-washington-whirl/88cee168-8977-4f47-905c-f483b82e68c7/|newspaper=The Washington Post|first1=Megan|last1=Rosenfeld|first2=Nancy|last2=Collins|date=10 January 1979}}</ref> and hosting a men's fashion show.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ulrich |first=Jane |date=1979-08-01 |title=It's the men's turn |pages=35 |work=Austin American-Statesman |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103678871/its-the-mens-turn/ |access-date=2022-06-13}}</ref> In 2001, the readers of Playboy would vote her the runner-up for "the sexiest Playmate of the 1970s."<ref name="Playboy's Sexiest Playmates">{{cite book|first1=Hugh |last1=Hefner |title=Playboy's Sexiest Playmates: 25 Fan Favorite Centerfolds|publisher=Playboy|year=2001}}</ref>

==Post ''Playboy''== At the time of her January 1979 centerfold appearance Loving was a senior at the University of Oklahoma<ref>{{cite news|title=The horrific murder of a Playboy Playmate on the verge of Hollywood stardom: 'That was her flaw, not being able to see the evil in people'|url=https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/horrific-murder-playboy-playmate-verge-hollywood-stardom-flaw-66193166|work=ABC News|date=17 October 2019|first1=Lauren|last1=Effron|first2=Anthony|last2=Rivas|via=Good Morning America}}</ref> studying public relations.<ref name=WP/> By 1981 she realized celebrity life was not for her, so at age 24 she re-enrolled at the University of Oklahoma to finish her bachelor's degree in journalism and later began a Master of Arts degree in human relations. She used the money from her work at Playboy to fund her studies.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Christensen |first=John |date=1983-06-03 |title=Is Candy Loving the Playmate Image |pages=19 |work=Honolulu Star-Bulletin |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103679252/is-candy-loving-the-playmate-image/ |access-date=2022-06-13}}</ref> She continued to perform publicity duties for the magazine, including signing posters at car shows,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zaslow |first=Jeffrey |date=1983-03-25 |title=The Candy Loving a centerfold can't show |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15805505/1983-03-25-page-1/], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15805572/1983-03-25-page-2/] |work=The Orlando Sentinel |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15805505/1983-03-25-page-1/ |access-date=2022-06-13}}</ref> and considering her career options.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gardner |first=Greg |date=1982-03-21 |title=She wants to move behind the camera |pages=45 |work=St. Lucie News Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103679325/she-wants-to-move-behind-the-camera/ |access-date=2022-06-13}}</ref> She later met Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive lineman Dave Reavis when both were judging a beauty pageant. She followed him to Tampa in July 1983. Even though their relationship did not last, she remained in southern Florida, working in the healthcare industry designing benefit packages for companies.<ref name=Lott/><ref name="antique">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/episodes/chicago-il-hour-1/ |title=Antiques Roadshow|website=PBS|access-date=26 August 2017}}</ref> She is no longer married but has one daughter.<ref name=Lott/>

==Filmography== * ''Dance Fever'' (TV Series) (1979) as herself * ''The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo'' playing "Herself" in episode: "Who's the Sexiest Girl in the World" (episode # 1.16), February 19, 1980 * Woody Allen's ''Stardust Memories'' (1980) only in the walk-on scene at the end as Tony's girlfriend * ''Playboy Playmates: The Early Years'' (documentary) (1982) as herself * ''Playboy Video Centerfold: Playmate 2000 Bernaola Twins'' (Video documentary) (2000) as herself * ''Playboy: The Party Continues'' (documentary) (2000) as herself * ''Playboy: The Ultimate Playmate Search'' (documentary) (2003) as herself * ''Playboy: 50 Years of Playmates'' (documentary) (2004) as herself

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{playmate|candy-loving|Candy Loving}} * {{IMDb name|id=0522727|name=Candy Loving}} * {{iafd name|id=candyloving|gender=female|name=Candy Loving}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loving, Candy}} Category:1956 births Category:Living people Category:People from Oswego, Kansas Category:People from Ponca City, Oklahoma Category:Actresses from Kansas Category:1970s Playboy Playmates Category:21st-century American women Category:University of Oklahoma alumni