Maria Whittaker | |
---|---|
Born | [1] | 7 October 1968
Other names | Maria Tafari |
Occupations |
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Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) |
Spouse | Michael West |
Children | 3 |
Maria Whittaker (born 7 October 1968), also known as Maria Tafari, is an English former glamour model, Page 3 girl, and pop singer.
Born on 7 October 1968 in Hounslow, Middlesex, Whittaker has described herself as a shy teenager. [2] She began glamour modelling after her mother sent her photo to the Yvonne Paul modelling agency, but asked her father not to look at any of her topless pictures. [2] She made her Page 3 debut in The Sun in 1985, aged 16, [3] and went on to become one of the most popular Page 3 models of the era. She was named The Sun's Page 3 Girl of the Year in 1989. [4] She also appeared in a variety of men's magazines. Her younger sister Lisa also had a brief career as a Page 3 girl, and the sisters posed together for topless photo shoots.
At age 18, Whittaker bought her parents a house in Twickenham, London, from her modelling income. [2] Saying that she was "fed up of being the centre of attention" and "wanted a peaceful life", she ceased glamour modelling at age 21 to become an au pair. [2]
Whittaker appeared as a Hill's Angel in two episodes of The Benny Hill Show in 1983. In 1986, she had a cameo role in the movie version of Whoops Apocalypse . She made her second screen appearance in the thriller film Tank Malling in 1989.
Whittaker formed the band Rhythm Zone in 1990, with her as lead vocalist. [4] The band was short-lived, releasing one unsuccessful single named "Stop Right Now (Take My Number)".
Whittaker, together with Michael Van Wijk, appeared semi-nude on the cover of the 1987 video game, Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior . [5] Later, Whittaker appeared on the cover of the 1989 sequel Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax which featured a similarly named playable character called Princess Mariana.
Whittaker is married to Michael West, better known as record producer Rebel MC and Congo Natty. [4] The couple have three children. Trinity Tafari, their youngest child, is a world champion at street dance, and is a part of dance group IMD, which has been featured on Got to Dance and Britain's Got Talent . [2]
Whittaker now works as a nutritionist. [2]
Page 3, or Page Three, was a British newspaper convention of publishing a large image of a topless female glamour model on the third page of mainstream red top tabloids. The Sun introduced the feature in November 1970, which boosted its readership and prompted competing tabloids—including The Daily Mirror, TheSunday People, and TheDaily Star—to begin featuring topless models on their own third pages. Well-known Page 3 models included Linda Lusardi, Samantha Fox, Debee Ashby, Maria Whittaker, Katie Price, Keeley Hazell, and Jakki Degg.
Samantha Karen Fox is an English pop singer and former glamour model from Crouch End in North London. She has also appeared on reality television shows, and has occasionally worked as a television presenter.
Kirsten Fifi Imrie is a former Page 3 girl, glamour model, and television presenter.
George Harrison Marks was an English glamour photographer and director of nudist, and later, pornographic films.
Mayfair is a British adult magazine for men. Founded in 1966, it was designed as a response to US magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse, the latter of which had recently launched in the UK. For many years, it claimed the largest distribution of any men's magazine in the UK. It is a softcore magazine, and thus is available in newsagents, although some larger retailers require a modesty bag to hide the cover.
Linsey Dawn McKenzie is an English glamour model, pornographic performer, and television personality who made her topless modelling debut in the Sunday Sport tabloid newspaper on her 16th birthday in 1994. Known for her naturally large breasts, she went on to feature in a wide range of adult magazines, websites, broadcast media, and videos, including hardcore pornography productions after 2000.
Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior is a 1987 video game developed and published by Palace Software for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. The game was ported to many other systems and was licensed to Epyx who published it as Death Sword in the United States.
Michelle Marsh is an English former glamour model, known for her appearances on Page 3 of several tabloids and in numerous British lads' mags.
Louise Helena Glover is an English model and beauty pageant titleholder. She is well known for her work as a glamour model, with appearances in British lad mags, including FHM, Bizarre, Maxim, Loaded, and tabloids such as the News of the World, The Sun and Daily Star. She is the first British model to be named "Model of the Year" in Playboy Special Editions.
June Wilkinson is an English model and actress, known for her appearances in Playboy magazine and in films of the 1960s. One of the world's most-photographed women in the late 1950s and early 1960s, at the height of her career she was called "the most photographed nude in America".
A handbra is the practice of covering female nipples and areolae with hands or arms. It often is done in compliance with censors' guidelines, public authorities and community standards when female breasts are required to be covered in film or other media. If the arms are used instead of the hands the expression is arm bra. The use of long hair for this purpose is called a hair bra.
Suzanne Mizzi was a glamour model, singer, interior designer, and artist. She made regular appearances as a Page 3 girl in the British newspaper The Sun during the 1980s and 1990s, before going on to have a career as a catwalk model, as well as being involved in film and music. In her later years, she developed a career as an interior designer and abstract artist.
Caroline Cossey is a British model and actress who often worked under the name Tula, which she also used for two memoirs. She appeared in the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only as an extra. Following her appearance in the film, she was outed as transgender by British tabloid News of the World. In 1991, she became the first trans woman to pose for Playboy. Cossey has since then fought for her right to legally marry and be legally recognised as a woman.
Cherry Frampton is a former glamour model and Page 3 girl who posed under the name Cherry Dee. During her modelling career, she was featured in magazines such as Fast Car, Fit For Men, and Nuts and tabloid newspapers such as Daily Star, and the Daily Sport.
Deborah Jane Ashby is an English former glamour model who appeared in British men's magazines and tabloid newspapers during the 1980s and 1990s. She was one of the best-known Page 3 models of her era.
Gail McKenna is an English former glamour model, former theatre and television actress, and former television presenter. She worked as a Page 3 girl and glamour model from 1986 until 1990, before becoming a sports presenter for L!VE TV and Five and a presenter of children's programmes for CITV.
Seren Gibson is a British former glamour model. She has appeared topless and nude in photo spreads for several men's magazines and on Page 3 of the UK newspaper Daily Star. She featured in the British TV series My Crazy Media Life.
Iga Wyrwał, also known as Eva or Eve, is a Polish actress and former glamour model.
Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax is a video game first published in 1988 for various home computers. It was released as Axe of Rage in North America. The game is the sequel to Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior, which was published in 1987. In Barbarian II, the player controls a princess or barbarian character, exploring the game world to locate and defeat an evil wizard. The game's plot is an extension of its predecessor, although the gameplay is different. While the first game offers two players the opportunity for virtual head-to-head combat, the second is a single-player beat 'em up with fewer fighting moves. It uses a flip-screen style instead of scrolling.
No More Page 3 was a campaign that ran in the United Kingdom from 2012 to 2015, aimed at convincing the owners and editors of The Sun to cease publishing images of topless glamour models on Page 3, which it had done since 1970. Started by Lucy-Anne Holmes in August 2012, the campaign represented Page 3 as an outdated, sexist tradition that demeaned girls and women. The campaign collected over 240,000 signatures on an online petition and gained support from over 140 MPs, a number of trade unions, over 30 universities, and many charities and advocacy groups.