Janice Pennington

Growing up in Southern California and Seattle, Janice Pennington vowed she’d be famous one day for either singing, acting, modeling or all three. One thing was for certain—Janice was going to achieve stardom. “I've been thinking seriously about an acting career ever since I was twelve,” admits the tall brunette. “But, I never admitted it because I was afraid people would consider me egotistical if I told them my ambitions.” First thing first, Janice knew to achieve the career she wanted, she needed to get her name out there. At 19 years old, she moved to Las Vegas where she danced as a show girl for Eddie Fisher and Jimmy Durante, but she still couldn’t shake off her need to act. Our all-natural Playmate of the Month flew to New York City where she tried her hardest to ignore her intuition and focus on modeling. “I tried to forget about becoming an actress. I told myself I simply couldn't make it in films,” confesses Janice. She tried to focus on a music career as a singer in a rock group called The Models who sang in Europe as Liza Minnelli’s opening act. After a year and a half of working as a successful singer and model for Eileen Ford’s modeling agency, she had had enough. She sang and danced in Vegas, she acted in commercials and she modeled in New York—it was time to develop self-confidence and try her hand at acting in California. Much to Janice’s surprise, Hollywood had been waiting for her. “Maybe you’ve seen me in the movies I Love My Wife and The Courtship of Eddie's Father. I've also posed for Vogue, but I'd like to be a film actress,” says our Miss May 1971. “I'm not in such a hurry that I'd play a role I didn't feel was right for me. My ambition is to achieve fulfillment in whatever I do.” Her acting career hit pay dirt when she was offered the role on Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, a variety show where she got to perform with celebrities like Bob Hope, Dean Martin and Tony Bennett, when actress Goldie Hawn quit the show in 1969. “The great thing about doing Laugh-In is the opportunity it gives me to associate with such a variety of talents. They’re the most gifts group of comedians since the old Steve Allen Show.” says Janice. “While I’m dancing for a skit, I watch the cast for comedy bits that might help me in the future.” Her devotion towards becoming famous paid off when she heard about a new gameshow looking for beauties to display their prizes. The Price is Right debuted on September 4, 1972 with our Miss May 1971 as one of host Bob Barker’s Beauties. Not only did her job as a model on the show give her the connections she needed to publish her book, Husband Lover Spy, but it led to her acquiring a title that never dreamed of—a world record holder. From 1972 to 2000, our Playmate of the Month was Bob Barker’s longest-running Beauty and taped over 6300 episodes of The Price is Right during that time—making her the world record holder for having appeared on the most episodes on the longest running game show in television history. If that weren’t impressive enough, Janice turned her love for acting into a festival when she and her writer husband, Carlos De Abreu, founded the Hollywood Film Festival. Now that she’s checked off every item on her list of ambitions—including goals that were never even on her radar—there is one thing left for her to do. “I want to live near a forest and a river, away from smog, with a husband and children,” says Janice. “I don't know where that is yet, but I'm certain that I want to be there.”