Free Preview: Playmate of the Month February 1988 - Kari Kennell

Kari Kennell is wearing skintight black pants and a floppy gray sweater (which she's forever pulling away at the neck so that she can blow cool air downward), and she's talking about a party she attended not too long ago. "There were all these glitzy, beautiful ladies there," she says, somehow overlooking the fact that she's no slouch in the beauty department herself, "but I was most taken by this woman who was a natural beauty - you know, wearing ordinary pleated pants, a plain white T-shirt, no make-up and a simple ponytail. And that's how I'd like to think of myself," she adds, running a hand through her own thick blonde hair. "A natural, down-home, no make-up, no-nonsense type of person." Actually, it's no surprise that Kari Kennell identifies with natural things: She was born in scenic Colorado Springs and spent most of her school years bouncing back and forth between the Rockies and the equally serene clime of Dunedin, Florida. Ultimately, however, it would be Kari's talent as an actress that would sweep her away from the quiet life and smack into the fast lanes of showbiz. "I had booked two jobs on Miami Vice - once, I was a roller-skating waitress; the next time, I was a stoned-out girl tied to a bed - and I was hooked. I wanted to learn absolutely everything there was to know about acting, and New York was the obvious place to start." <br> Even though Kari immediately found work in the Big Apple, the Manhattan lifestyle began to take its toll. "After a while, New...