A Playmate is a female model featured in the centerfold/gatefold of Playboy magazine as Playmate of the Month (PMOTM). The PMOTM's pictorial includes nude photographs and a centerfold poster, along with a pictorial biography and the "Playmate Data Sheet", which lists her birthdate, measurements, turn-ons, and turn-offs. At the end of the year, one of the 12 Playmates of the Month is named Playmate of the Year (PMOTY). Every Playmate of the Month is awarded a prize of US$25,000 and each Playmate of the Year receives an additional prize of US$100,000 plus a car and other discretionary gifts. In addition, Anniversary Playmates are usually chosen to celebrate a milestone year of the magazine. The use of the word "Playmate" in a sexual sense did not originate with Playboy, and was seen at least as early as 1950 in Vue magazine.
Lowell Jackson Thomas was an American writer, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence. He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen system. In 1954, he led a group of New York City-based investors to buy majority control of Hudson Valley Broadcasting, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation.
Mary Chase was an American journalist, playwright and children's novelist, known primarily for writing the 1944 Broadway play Harvey, which was adapted into the 1950 film starring James Stewart.
Miss California USA is the beauty pageant that selects the representative for the state of California in the Miss USA pageant, and the name of the title held by that winner. The pageant is directed by Crown Diva Productions.
The Miss California competition selects the representative for the state of California in the Miss America competition.
Hillevi Rombin Schine was a Swedish actress and beauty queen who was crowned as Miss Sweden and is the fourth winner of Miss Universe in 1955. She was crowned Miss Sweden Universe 1955 by Miss Sweden Universe 1954, Ragnhild Olausson. In 1996, she became the first Miss Universe title holder who had died.
Patricia Ann Sheehan, also known as Patricia Sheehan Crosby, was an American actress and model. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for October 1958 and a contract player for NBC.
The Miss Colorado Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Colorado in the Miss Teen USA pageant. From 1993 to 2006, the Miss Colorado Teen USA state pageant was directed by Carol Hirata and the Carlton Group, based in Bellvue, Colorado. In 2007, it was taken over by Future Productions, based in Savage, Minnesota, which also directs pageants in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming. The pageant have been held in Loveland, Greeley and other cities.
Frances Jacobs was born in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, to Jewish Bavarian immigrants and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. She married Abraham Jacobs, the partner of her brother Jacob, and came west with him to Colorado where Wisebart and Jacobs had established businesses in Denver and Central City. In Denver, Frances Jacobs became a driving force for the city's charitable organizations and activities, with national exposure. Among the philanthropical organizations she founded, she is best remembered as a founder of the United Way and the Denver's Jewish Hospital Association.
The Miss Colorado competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Colorado in the Miss America pageant. Colorado has won the Miss America crown on three occasions.
Jerome Cousins Biffle was an American athlete who competed mainly in the long jump, where he was the Gold Medalist at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games.
Marilyn Buferd was an American film and television actress as well as the winner of both the Miss California and Miss America pageants of 1946. During the latter half of the 1940s and throughout the 1950s, she performed in nearly two dozen American, Italian, and French films, including Touchez pas au grisbi opposite Jean Gabin (1954). Buford also appeared in several television series originally broadcast in the 1950s, such as The Millionaire, Highway Patrol, Schlitz Playhouse, The Ford Television Theatre, and Orient Express.
Mrs. America Pageant is a beauty competition that was established to honor married women throughout the United States of America. Each of the contestants representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia ranges in age from their 20s to 50s and earns the right to participate in the national event by winning her state competition. These state events are under the direction of Mrs. America state directors. The winner goes on to compete in the Mrs. World pageant.
Miss America 1958, the 31st Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 7, 1957 on CBS.
Dorothy Mae Johnson was an American actress and print model. Starting her career as a beauty queen, she was best known for acting on television and in motion pictures during the Golden Age of Hollywood as a starlet during the 1950s. Dorothy Mae Johnson won the 1955 Miss Oregon beauty pageant and was first runner-up in the 1956 Miss America pageant. The United States Marine Corps chose her to be their official Miss Leatherneck.
Caroline Bancroft (1900–1985) was a journalist and performed in the Ziegfeld Follies. She is known for the books and booklets that she wrote about Colorado's history and its pioneers. In 1990, she was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame.
Sue Anschutz-Rodgers is an American rancher, conservationist, and philanthropist. Owner of the Crystal River Ranch in Roaring Fork Valley, Colorado, she is a strong proponent of conservationism and preservation of the heritage of the American West, and helped implement the legal concept of conservation easements in the state. She is the chair and president of the Anschutz Family Foundation, which funds nonprofits, and also heads the Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Fund, which funds projects promoting women's self-sufficiency. She is an active member of many state and national boards. She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Colorado Business Hall of Fame in 2017.
Helen Gilmer Bonfils was an American heiress, actress, theatrical producer, newspaper executive, and philanthropist. She acted in local theatre in Denver, Colorado, and on Broadway, and also co-produced plays in Denver, New York City, and London. She succeeded her father, Frederick Gilmer Bonfils, as manager of The Denver Post in 1933, and eventually became president of the company. Lacking heirs, she invested her fortune into providing for the city of Denver and the state of Colorado, supporting the Belle Bonfils Blood Bank, the Bonfils Memorial Theatre, the University of Denver, the Denver Zoo, the Dumb Friends League, churches, and synagogues. Her estate endowed the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. She was posthumously inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Colorado Performing Arts Hall of Fame in 1999.
Bonfils Memorial Theatre, also known as Lowenstein Theatre, was a community theatre in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Denver, Colorado, which operated from 1953 to 1986. Built by Denver philanthropist Helen Bonfils in memory of her parents, Frederick Gilmer Bonfils and Belle Barton Bonfils, it staged plays, operas, concerts, films, lectures, and television shows, presenting more than 400 productions. In 1985 it was renamed the Lowenstein Theatre in honor of its longtime producer, Henry Lowenstein. The theatre closed in 1986 and sat vacant for two decades. It was purchased in 2005 by Charles Woolley of the St. Charles Town Company, which renovated and reopened the building in 2006 as a Tattered Cover bookstore. The theatre building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
