{{Short description|American actress (1948–2019)}} {{about||the American politician from Maine|Susan Bernard (politician)}} {{Infobox person | name = Susan Bernard | image = Susan Bernard in Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965).jpg | caption = Susan Bernard in ''Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'' | birth_name = Susan Lynn Bernard | birth_date = {{birth date|1948|2|11}} | birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.<ref name=pigs/> | spouse = {{marriage|Jason Miller<br>|1974|1983|end=divorced}} | children = Joshua John Miller | death_date = {{Death date and age|2019|6|21|1948|2|11}} | death_place =Los Angeles, California, U.S. | occupation = Author, businesswoman, actress, model | website = {{Website |bernardofhollywood.com}} }}
'''Susan Lynn Bernard''' (February 11, 1948 – June 21, 2019)<ref name=pigs>{{cite web|url=http://wekinglypigs.com/cgi-bin/nand/search/pmstat?browse=%3A%3ACONFIG%3A%3Amodelbrowse&key=bernard%2C+susan&limit=0|title=Playmate data|accessdate=February 5, 2010}}</ref> was an American author, actress, model and businesswoman from Los Angeles, California. She was the daughter of photographer Bruno Bernard.<ref>{{cite news|last=Beggs|first=Alexandra|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/features/2011/10/marilyn-monroe-201110#/slide=1|title=Marilyn Monroe: The Metamorphosis|work=Vanity Fair|date=2011-09-28}}</ref>
==Career== Susan Bernard was the author of six books, including ''Marilyn: Intimate Exposures'', ''Bernard of Hollywood's Ultimate Pin-Up Book'' and ''Joyous Motherhood''. She was the president of Bernard of Hollywood/Renaissance Road Incorporated.<ref>{{cite news|last=Nadler|first=Art|url=http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/1996/dec/26/mgm-exhibit-to-host-bernards-lv-photos|title=MGM Exhibit To Host Bernard's LV Photos|work=Las Vegas Sun|date=1996-12-26}}</ref>
Bernard starred in the Russ Meyer film ''Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'' in 1965,<ref>{{cite news|last=Knolle|first=Sharon|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/19/susan-bernard-marilyn-intimate-exposures_n_1363928.html|title=Susan Bernard, 'Marilyn, Intimate Exposures' Author, Looks Back On 'Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'|work=The Huffington Post|date=2012-03-19}}</ref> and in two seasons of ''General Hospital'' in the late 1960s.
She appeared in ''Playboy'' in December 1966, and was believed to be the first Jewish Playmate of the month, though in recent years Cindy Fuller, Miss May 1959, has claimed that she was the first Jewish Playmate.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.laweekly.com/columns/a-considerable-town/icon-love-susan-of-hollywood/10257|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306112929/http://www.laweekly.com/columns/a-considerable-town/icon-love-susan-of-hollywood/10257/|url-status=dead|title=''The Essential Online Resource for Los Angeles''|archivedate=March 6, 2008}}</ref>
In an interview in the August 1998 issue of ''Femme Fatales'', Bernard revealed, "I was the first under-18 Jewish virgin who was in the centerfold placed in front of a Christmas tree," and that she'd never been nude in front of anyone other than her mother prior to posing for Mario Casilli, who had been one of her father's apprentices.<ref name="Bernard in Femme Fatale"> {{cite journal | last1 = Scapperotti | first1 = Dan | title = Banned in Boston: Bernard of Hollywood | journal = Femme Fatales | date = 1 August 1998 | volume = 7 | issue = 3 | pages = 8–31 | publisher = Frederick S. Clark | location = Forest Park, Illinois | issn = 1062-3906 }}</ref>
== Personal life and death== Her father was photographer Bruno Bernard.<ref name=pbnov08>{{cite journal|periodical=Playboy|title=Playmate News|volume=55|date=November 2008|pages=143–144}}</ref> Her husband, although they later divorced, was actor/playwright Jason Miller; their son is actor Joshua John Miller.<ref name=pbnov08/>
She died of an apparent heart attack on June 21, 2019.<ref>{{Cite news |first=Katharine Q. |last=Seelye |title=Susan Bernard, 71, Dies; Actress and Keeper of a Photographic Legacy |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2019-06-30 |page=A21 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/30/obituaries/susan-bernard-dies.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2024-11-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230716045926/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/30/obituaries/susan-bernard-dies.html |archive-date=2023-07-16 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Evans |first1=Greg |title=Susan Bernard Dies: 'Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!' Actress, Publisher Of Iconic Hollywood Photo Archive Was 71 |url=https://deadline.com/2019/06/susan-bernard-dead-faster-pussycat-kill-kill-actress-publisher-iconic-hollywood-photo-archive-1202638352/ |website=Deadline Hollywood |access-date=21 May 2021 |date=2019-06-26}}</ref>
==Bibliography== *{{cite book|last=Bernard|first=Susan|title=Marilyn: Intimate Exposures|publisher=Sterling Signature|year=2011}} *{{cite book|last=Bernard|first=Susan|title=Bernard of Hollywood: The Ultimate Pin-Up Book|publisher=Taschen|year=2002}}
==Filmography==
===Films=== * ''The Mao Game'' (1999) * ''Teenager'' (1974) * ''The Killing Kind'' (1973) .... Tina Moore (as Sue Bernard) * ''Necromancy'' (1972) .... Nancy * ''Machismo: 40 Graves for 40 Guns'' (1971) .... Julie * ''The Phynx'' (1970) .... London Belly * ''That Tender Touch'' (1969) .... Terry Manning * ''The Witchmaker'' (1969) .... Felicity Johnson * ''Stranger In Hollywood'' (1968) .... Woman * ''Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'' (1965) .... Linda
===Television=== * ''The Smith Family'' - "No Place to Hide" (1971) * ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' ** "The Girls from Grun" (1971) .... Girl ** "The Grunion Invasion" (1971) .... Girl * ''Room 222'' - "Funny Boy" (1969) .... Joellen * ''General Hospital'' (1963) .... Beverly Cleveland Fairchild (1968–1969)
==See also== * List of people in Playboy 1960–1969
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name}}
{{playmates of 1966}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, Susan}} Category:1948 births Category:2019 deaths Category:Jewish American non-fiction writers Category:American television actresses Category:Jewish American actresses Category:Actresses from Los Angeles Category:1960s Playboy Playmates Category:American film actresses Category:Female models from California Category:American women non-fiction writers Category:20th-century American actresses Category:American people of German-Jewish descent Category:21st-century American Jews Category:21st-century American women Category:Jewish American film people