List of Playboy Playmates of 1954

{{Short description|none}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2012}} __NOTOC__ The following is a list of '''Playboy Playmates of 1954'''. ''Playboy'' magazine named its Playmate of the Month each month throughout the year. Prior to September 1959, Playmates were not asked to complete data sheets.

==January==

{{Infobox Playboy Playmate | name = Margie Harrison | image = | caption = | imagesize = | birth_name = | birth_place =Los Angeles, California, U.S. | birth_date =November 3, 1931 | death_date = {{death date and age|mf=yes|2006|12|23|1931|11|5}} | death_place = | height = 5 ft 4 in }} '''Margie Harrison''' was an American actress and model. She was Playmate of the Month for both January 1954 and June 1954.<ref name="thecompletecenterfolds">{{cite book|first1=Hugh |last1=Hefner |first2=Dave |last2=Hickey|title=Playboy: The Complete Centerfolds|publisher=Chronicle Books|year=2008|edition=illustrated|isbn=978-0811860918}}</ref> While Marilyn Monroe preceded her as a ''Playboy'' "Sweetheart of the Month", Monroe did not appear in the center pages, but was pictured on pages 16 to 18. Harrison is therefore the first model designated "Playmate of the Month". Like Monroe, her photo was purchased from the John Baumgarth Company, which specialized in pin-up calendars. According to ''The Playmate Book'', Harrison also appeared in the men's magazines ''Follies'' and ''Gala''. {{clear}}

==February== {{Infobox Playboy Playmate  | name = Marilyn Waltz<br>(a.k.a. Margaret Scott) | image = | caption = | imagesize = | birth_name = Marilyn Ardith Waltz | birth_place = Waukesha, Wisconsin, U.S.<ref name="ObitWaltz">{{cite web |title=Marilyn Ardith Jordan |url=https://mailtribune.com/news/obituaries/marilyn-ardith-jordan |website=Mail Tribune |access-date=17 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524203257/https://mailtribune.com/news/obituaries/marilyn-ardith-jordan |archive-date=24 May 2019 |date=20 January 2007}}</ref> | birth_date = {{birth date|1931|11|5}} | death_date = {{death date and age|mf=yes|2006|12|23|1931|11|5}}<ref name="ObitWaltz"/> | death_place = Medford, U.S.<ref name="ObitWaltz"/> | height = 5 ft 4 in }}

'''Marilyn Ardith Jordan''' ({{née}} '''Waltz'''; November 5, 1931 – December 23, 2006) was an American actress and model. Using the pseudonym '''Margaret Scott''', she was ''Playboy'' magazine's Playmate of the Month for the February 1954 issue.<ref name=febkingly>{{cite web|url=http://wekinglypigs.com/cgi-bin/nand/search/pmstat?browse=%3A%3ACONFIG%3A%3Amodelbrowse&key=scott%2C+margaret&limit=0|title=Playmate data|access-date=March 28, 2010}}</ref>

Known as '''Marilyn Waltz''', (later '''Marilyn Jordan'''), she also appeared as Playmate of the Month in the April 1954 and April 1955 issues. She was the first of two women to become a three-time Playmate (the other being Janet Pilgrim). In her first ''Playboy'' appearance, Waltz was billed as Margaret Scott. For years thereafter, many assumed that Marilyn and Margaret were two different women. It was not until the mid-1990s that they were determined to be one and the same.

Waltz was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin in 1931. In 1954, she starred in the film ''Love Me Madly'' alongside Al Molinaro. Four years later, in 1958, she married Breck Jordan, who predeceased her. After retiring from acting and modeling, she worked in real estate in Southern California. In 1993, she moved to Oregon. She retired from real estate in 1996.<ref name="ObitWaltz"/>

==March== {{Infobox Playboy Playmate  |image = | imagesize = | name = Dolores Del Monte | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1932|3|15}} | birth_place = Spokane, Washington, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2023|2|11|1932|3|15}} | death_place = | height = 5 ft 6 in }}

'''Dolores Del Monte''' (March 15, 1932 – February 11, 2023) was ''Playboy'' magazine's Playmate of the Month for the March 1954 issue.<ref name=markingly>{{cite web|url=http://wekinglypigs.com/cgi-bin/nand/search/pmstat?browse=%3A%3ACONFIG%3A%3Amodelbrowse&key=del+monte%2C+dolores&limit=0|title=Playmate data|access-date=June 20, 2017}}</ref>

Del Monte was born in Spokane, Washington on March 15, 1932.<ref name="Malone">{{cite web |last1=Malone |first1=Noreen |last2=Kander |first2=Nadav |title=Playboy Pinups From the '50s, '60s, and '70s on Meeting the Male Gaze Then — and Now |url=https://www.thecut.com/2014/10/playboy-pinups-on-meeting-the-male-gaze.html |website=The Cut |access-date=19 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002014642/https://www.thecut.com/2014/10/playboy-pinups-on-meeting-the-male-gaze.html |archive-date=2 October 2019 |date=21 October 2014}}</ref> Growing up, she wanted to be a model. She modeled as a pin-up, keeping the secret from her parents. In 1954, when she was nineteen,<ref name="Pitzulo2011">{{cite book|author=Carrie Pitzulo|title=Bachelors and Bunnies: The Sexual Politics of Playboy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g7LLDB4y8sYC&pg=PA45|date=May 2011|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-67006-5|page=45}}</ref> she participated in a calendar shoot. The shoot included swimsuit and nude photos. She was called and told her photo would be published, assuming it was a swimsuit photo. She was paid $50 for the shoot. It ended up being for ''Playboy''. Just after the publishing, Del Monte got married later that year to Roy Card (they divorced and he died in 1985)<ref name=Dignity>{{cite web |title=Dolores Jean Mack |url=https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/mission-viejo-ca/dolores-mack-11149503 |website=Dignity Memorial |access-date=4 October 2023}}</ref> and had children. She never knew her photos ended up in ''Playboy'' until her son saw a 25th-anniversary ''Playboy'' retrospective and called Del Monte to tell her he saw her in the magazine. Del Monte said she was embarrassed and proud at the same time when her son called with the news. In an interview with ''The New Yorker'' in 2014, Del Monte said models today "show too much" and that she would never model again.<ref name="Malone"/>

After she left modeling, Del Monte worked in public relations.<ref name="Malone"/> She died on February 11, 2023, at the age of 90.<ref name=Dignity/>

==April== '''Marilyn Waltz''' (''See February entry above'')

==May== {{Infobox Playboy Playmate | image = | name = Joanne Arnold | birth_place =Los Angeles, California, U.S. | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1931|4|1}} | height = 5 ft 4 in }} {{main|Joanne Arnold}} '''Joanne Arnold''' (born April 1, 1931) is an American actress and model. She was ''Playboy'' magazine's Playmate of the Month for the May 1954 issue.<ref name=maykingly>{{cite web|url=http://wekinglypigs.com/cgi-bin/nand/search/pmstat?browse=%3A%3ACONFIG%3A%3Amodelbrowse&key=arnold%2C+joanne&limit=0|title=Playmate data|access-date=June 20, 2017}}</ref> She also appeared on the covers of the March 1954 and August 1955 issues. {{clear}}

==June== '''Margie Harrison''' (''See January entry above'')

==July== {{Infobox Playboy Playmate  | name = Neva Gilbert | birth_date = {{birth date|1929|9|1}} | birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2022|11|12|1929|9|1}} | death_place = Lake Worth, Florida, U.S. | height = 5 ft 6 in }} {{main|Neva Gilbert}} '''Neva Gilbert''' (September 1, 1929 – November 12, 2022) was an American model. She was ''Playboy'' magazine's Playmate of the Month for its July 1954 issue.<ref name=julkingly>{{cite web|url=http://wekinglypigs.com/cgi-bin/nand/search/pmstat?browse=%3A%3ACONFIG%3A%3Amodelbrowse&key=gilbert%2C+neva&limit=0|title=Playmate data|access-date=March 28, 2010}}</ref> {{clear}}

==August== {{Infobox Playboy Playmate  | name = Arline Hunter | image = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1931|12|16}} | birth_place = Caldwell, Idaho, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2018|9|11|1931|12|16}} | death_place = San Pedro, California, U.S. | height = 5 ft 6 in }} {{main|Arline Hunter}} '''Arline Hunter''' (December 16, 1931 – September 11, 2018) was an American actress and model who was perhaps best known as ''Playboy's'' Playmate of the Month for August 1954. Her centerfold was the first not to be purchased from the John Baumgarth Co. by Hugh Hefner, and was photographed by Ed DeLong.<ref name=augkingly>{{cite web|url=http://wekinglypigs.com/cgi-bin/nand/search/pmstat?browse=%3A%3ACONFIG%3A%3Amodelbrowse&key=hunter%2C+arline&limit=0|title=Playmate data|access-date=March 28, 2010}}</ref> {{clear}}

==September== {{Infobox Playboy Playmate  | name = Jackie Rainbow | image = | caption = | imagesize = | birth_name = | birth_place =Santa Monica, California, U.S. | birth_date = {{birth date|1933|6|6}} | death_date = {{death date and age|1988|6|15|1933|6|6}} | death_place = | height =5 ft 4 in }}

'''Jackie Rainbow''' (June 6, 1933 – June 15, 1988) was an American model. She was ''Playboy'' magazine's Playmate of the Month for its September 1954 issue. Her centerfold was photographed by Carlyle Blackwell for the Publix Pictorial Service.<ref name=sepkingly>{{cite web |url=http://wekinglypigs.com/cgi-bin/nand/search/pmstat?browse=%3A%3ACONFIG%3A%3Amodelbrowse&key=rainbow%2C+jackie&limit=0 |title=Playmate listing |access-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref> {{clear}}

==October== {{Infobox Playboy Playmate | name = Madeline Castle | image = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1933|12|1}} | birth_place =Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S. | height =5 ft 4 in (164 cm) }}

'''Madeline Castle''' (born December 1, 1933) was an American model. She was ''Playboy'' magazine's Playmate of the Month for the October 1954 issue. Her centerfold was photographed by Jack Drebert and Jean Drebert.<ref name=octkingly>{{cite web|url=http://wekinglypigs.com/cgi-bin/nand/search/pmstat?browse=%3A%3ACONFIG%3A%3Amodelbrowse&key=castle%2C+madeline&limit=0|title=Playmate data|access-date=March 28, 2010}}</ref> According to ''The Playmate Book'', Castle was a prominent model in pin-ups and in men's magazines during the 1950s and early 1960s. {{clear}}

==November== {{Infobox Playboy Playmate  | image = | imagesize = | name = Diane Hunter | birth_name = Gale Rita Morris | birth_date = {{birth date|1934|7|14}} | birth_place = Tacoma, Washington, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2019|6|3|1934|7|14}} | death_place = | height = 5 ft 5.5 in }}

'''Diane Hunter''' (July 14, 1934 – June 3, 2019) was an American model.<ref name=novkingly>{{cite web|url=http://wekinglypigs.com/cgi-bin/nand/search/pmstat?browse=%3A%3ACONFIG%3A%3Amodelbrowse&key=hunter%2C+diane&limit=0|title=Playmate data|access-date=March 28, 2010}}</ref> She was ''Playboy'' magazine's Playmate of the Month for the November 1954 issue. Hunter died of cancer on June 3, 2019, at the age of 84.<ref>{{cite web |title=Diane Hunter bio |url=https://mypmates.club/1954/Miss-November/Diane-Hunter |website=Playboy Playmates And Centerfolds |access-date=24 September 2023}}</ref> {{clear}}

==December== {{Infobox Playboy Playmate  | image = | imagesize = | name = Terry Ryan | birth_name = | birth_place =Fort Hood, Texas, U.S. | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1933|12|1}} | death_date = | death_place = | height =5 ft 5 in (166 cm) }}

'''Terry Ryan''' (born December 1, 1933) was an American model.<ref name=deckingly>{{cite web|url=http://wekinglypigs.com/cgi-bin/nand/search/pmstat?browse=%3A%3ACONFIG%3A%3Amodelbrowse&key=ryan%2C+terry&limit=0|title=Playmate data|access-date=June 20, 2017}}</ref> She is best known as ''Playboy'' magazine's Playmate of the Month for its December 1954 issue.

Ryan's pictorial was the first photographed directly under ''Playboy's'' supervision.<ref>{{cite web|title=Terry Ryan|url=https://www.playboyplus.com/profile/terry-ryan|website=Playboy Plus|access-date=7 September 2021}}</ref> Prior to this issue, ''Playboy'' had purchased layouts from independent photographers. {{clear}}

==References== {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Playboy Playmates Of 1954}} Category:1954-related lists Playmates Of 1954