Surprising Celebrities Who Took Playboy

Celebrities Who Took It All Off For Playboy

Playboy magazine is famous for two things; Hugh Hefner and naked, stunning women. The first issue was published in 1953 and it was such a success that it sold out almost instantly. More than 1.5 million copies are sold a year and in 2010 the Playboy brand generated an annual revenue of $210 million.

During it’s vintage days, Marilyn Monroe even stripped down to nothing for a coveted spot in the magazine. By 1970, it had become the very first gentleman’s magazine to be printed in Braille.

Playboy

The rabbit logo has become one of the most recognised icons and titles on top shelves around the world. Anyone who’s given the opportunity to appear will reap the benefits of instant fame and access to some of the biggest and loudest parties at the Playboy Mansion. The coveted title of Playmate Of The Year has been won by models ever since 1957. The tradition of Playboy has been called out-dated and past-it by some, but there are still plenty of young women throwing their clothes off for the chance to appear on it’s pages.

One thing for which Playboy is famous is convincing celebrities to, literally, reveal all. With names like Pamela Anderson, Carmen Electra, Kim Kardashian and Kate Moss gracing the front covers like goddesses, Playboy is well known for exclusive, erotic photo shoots.

Some other huge names attached to the publication are less widely remembered, most likely  brushed under the carpet now and kept hush hush by their PR teams. These are 20 celebrities you may have forgotten graced the covers of the original top-shelf mag.

10. Denise Richards

In December 2004 the Starship Troopers actress, Denise Richards, was in a turbulent relationship with Charlie Sheen and had a five-month-old daughter with the actor. Showing to the world that women can still have killer figures even after childbirth she took the self-esteem boosting step of shooting for Playboy magazine. Her ten page spread of ‘erotic nudes’ was a far cry from her America’s sweetheart image. Showing off her full potential as a sex symbol strengthened her career and she became one of the world’s most desirable women.

9. Daryl Hannah

In 2003 Daryl Hannah re-invented her career by taking the role of Elle Driver in Kill Bill, which was far from the image that kick-started her career as a mermaid in Splash. She also took to the front cover of Playboy in 2003, looking more elegant than even the sexiest assassin. She didn’t have full faith that this role would resurrect her career so decided to go one step further and pose nude to get the world talking about her again. It certainly worked and Quentin Tarantino appeared in the same issue. His was an interview only, though – no pictures thankfully.

8. Madonna

No woman on earth knows quite how to shock like Madonna; she has been the mastermind behind the iconic cone bra, sexually graphic performances and banned, erotic music videos. Despite all this everyone was still taken aback when she would be featured in Playboy magazine. In 1985, Madonna was on the verge of becoming a huge celebrity when the magazine published some old nude photos of the star. The Like A Virgin singer graced the cover and celebrated the nude shots.

7. Cindy Crawford

In July 1988 Cindy Crawford took to the front cover of Playboy, but not for the first time or just in the US as she graced the cover again in 1998. The 5 foot 9 inches model measured at 34″-25.5″-36″, and both of her pictorials were taken by American fashion photograph Herbert ‘Herb’ Ritts Jr. She was once the highest paid supermodel on the planet and is now worth $18 million. In her hey-day Mens Health magazine also named her one of the 100 Hottest Women of All-Time. When she was still the hottest of hot property, this cover shoot was a serious coup for the men’s mag.

6. Anna Faris

Anna Faris is a rare breed of a woman; funny, beautiful, smart and filthy. When promoting the 2008 movie House Bunny, which saw her playing the sexy Playboy bunny who is thrown out the famous mansion by a jealous rival, she graced the cover the magazine too. If she was going to act like a Playboy bunny then she might as well have become one. She is now married to Chris Pratt and has a young son with actor, but the funny lady was a choice for the cover that caught everyone by surprise. The blonde bombshell proved she’s the kind of person who is really up for just about anything.

5. Dita Von Teese

The world’s most famous burlesque dancer, Dita Von Teese, and former wife of Marilyn Manson has posed for Playboy several times. Known for her picture perfect pin-up physique, she has commented that she was inspired into a career of glamour modelling by looking at old issues of her Dad’s Playboy when she was younger. Dita Von Teese actually got her name from the Playboy shoots; every model who poses for the magazine is required to have a surname, although at the time she was known only as Dita. She chose ‘Von Treese’ after picking it out from a phone book, but it was misspelled on the cover as Von Teese. It has been her chosen stage name ever since.

4. Lindsay Lohan

When Lindsay Lohan first announced that she would be appearing on the cover of Playboy for the January/February 2012 issue, there were comments around the world that she was causing even more damage to her flagging career which saw her constantly in trouble with the law for drink and drugs charges. Her pictorial, however, was surprisingly classy. She did the shoot in the style of Marilyn Monroe’s The Last Sitting with a mop of blonde hair as tribute. The shoot was leaked online a month before the magazine was due on shelves and all the uncensored pictures went viral. Still waiting for a big movie comeback, Playboy didn’t harm Lohan’s career but it didn’t motivate the anticipated comeback.

3. Sharon Stone

In 1990, Sharon Stone became a household name for two reasons: She appeared in Total Recall, and she wore next to nothing in the July issue of Playboy. The timing of these two events was seen as a positive PR move for Stone and two years later she landed the role in Basic Instinct and performed ‘That Leg Crossing Scene.’ She had Hollywood hot under the collar, but this was not a one-off for Stone as she posed again for the Christmas Issue cover – timing it well with the release of Basic Instinct. So gracing the cover of Playboy was how she would promote her movies? As one of Hollywood’s most recognisable women, it worked.

2. Naomi Campbell

Naomi Campbell is one of the most well known models in the world, currently worth $48 million. But not even this Queen of Glamour could turn down the tempting offer to pose for Playboy. She was a regular at the notorious Playboy Mansion parties, so Hugh Hefner most likely propositioned the supermodel personally himself. The 5ft 9inches beauty appeared in pure white gift wrap for the Christmas 1999 issue. During the 90’s she was every man’s dream girl and would definitely have sat high at the top of any wish list. The headline on the cover screamed out from the shelves ‘Naomi Campbell – completely nude’ which sent it flying off the shelves.

1. Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore’s career has been a roller coaster of highs and lows. From child star to tortured teen, the silver screen goddess to a rumoured has-been and now she has changed her life to become a devoted Mother. If there is one woman in Hollywood you could say has seen every side of fame then it would have to be Barrymore. Many are unaware that she took her clothes off for the magazine back in 1995 when her career was moving back up into A-List territory: It was a tough job for her PR team to brush this event under the carpet. Still, the images endure and fans can still look back at the prolific, wealthy actress in her young, frivolous photoshoot.

via Cheish Merryweather