The selection of Anna Nicole Smith as a Playboy Playmate in 1992 made her a member of an exclusive sorority. Her death at 39 put her in a more grisly club — Playmates who haven't reached their 50th birthday.
"It's sad how many girls we've lost," said Peter Gowland, who photographed a number of centerfolds for Playboy in the 1950s and 60s with the help of his wife.
In 1968, Gowland photographed Paige Young. In 1974, she was dead of a drug overdose.
Jayne Mansfield, another Playmate he photographed, died in a car crash in 1967 at 34.
"It's a curse to be beautiful," Gowland said.
More than 600 women have graced Playboy's centerfold since the magazine began publishing in the 1950s.
Their lives after the magazine have been both in and out of the spotlight, but their limited number and Playboy's wide circulation has meant that the death of one can become bombshell news.
Dorothy Stratten was the most famous of these deaths. She was murdered by her husband only months aftershe became playmate of the year. Eve Meyer,Marilyn Monroe and more have all met bitter ends under 50. It says alot about fame, but more specifically THIS kind of fame. It is so sad that that many beautiful women have been lost. And lost in the sense that they themselves are adrift in their lives and they spin out of control.
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