Playboy Model, Country Recording Artist, Actress
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$20 Million
"I believe that mink are raised for being turned into fur coats and if we didn't wear fur coats, those little animals would never have been born!" To say that Barbi Benton was an interesting person would be an understatement. Barbi Benton, born Barbara Lynn Klein, is, perhaps, one of the most well-known Playboy Playmates of all time. Benton is well-known for her young relationship with the creator of Playboy himself, Hugh Hefner. However, Benton has done far more than just date someone who was famous.
While Benton is notable for her hot-and-cold romance with Hugh Hefner, since they dated for almost seven years, she actually accomplished quite a lot during her time in the spotlight. Benton starred on several television series, released multiple country music albums, and even became one of the most popular Playboy Playmates of the '70s. If that's not enough to impress, Benton was also the person who convinced Hugh Hefner to purchase the legendary Playboy Mansion.
Despite her various claims to fame, Barbi Benton would fade from the public spotlight in order to take care of her children. Before she retired in the mid-'80s, Benton crafted quite the legacy for herself. Let's take a moment to really get to know Barbi Benton!
From Sacramento to Stardom
Barbara Lynn Klein was born on January 28th, 1950 in New York City. Not much is known about Barbi Benton's early life outside of the fact that she was born into a Jewish family. Her mother worked in the financial field as an investment counselor while her father worked as a gynecologist. While Barbi was born in New York, NY, her family wasn't content to stay there. Benton spent the majority of her early life in Sacramento, CA. As a child, Benton was fascinated by learning and quick to put her skills to the test. Benton trained in scuba diving, piano playing, tearoom modeling, and more. Benton even briefly enrolled at UCLA in order to become a veterinarian. Unfortunately, Benton had to drop out of UCLA once she realized that she could not stand the sight of blood.
Before dropping out of UCLA, Barbi Benton captured the attention of a local commercial agency. The agency, which remains unnamed to this day, claimed that Barbi could become the 'new face in town' with the right coaching. The attention that Barbi received made complete sense with the proper perspective. Barbi had been modeling in professionally since she was just 16-years-old. Now, Barbi was an adult, and she was starting to catch the attention of major players within the modeling industry. This was the first of Barbi's multiple forays into the world of entertainment and it would serve as the launching point for the rest of her career.
What makes Barbi Benton such a fascinating story is the fact that so little is known about her early life. With relatively inauspicious beginnings, Benton managed to become one of the most formative figures in Playboy history. As a result, Benton has left her mark across the pop-culture landscape for the rest of time.
With her childhood out of the way, Benton's story is about to really take off. In fact, her meteoric ascent from 18-year-old model to national star is almost hard to believe!
Barbi of all Trades
After dropping out of UCLA during her veterinarian misadventures, Barbi was approached by a prominent commercial agency. Benton was already capturing the attention of prominent publications throughout California due to her incredible good looks and history of modeling, but now she was ready to ascend to the next level. Benton, still being credited as Barbara Klein during this period, was approached by Playboy when she turned eighteen in order to appear on their show, Playboy After Dark (1969). The program was hosted by Hugh Hefner himself and it was filmed at CBS Television City in Los Angeles. Benton accepted the gig and her life was summarily changed.
Once Benton was brought onto Playboy After Dark, her star was ready to burst. Benton was quickly promoted to the role of a co-host. After two quick episodes, Benton had won over both the production and Hugh Hefner himself. In fact, Hefner was already head-over-heels in love with the young starlet. Hefner would go on to approach Benton for a date whereupon Benton would famously reply, "I don't know, I've never dated anyone over 24 before." Hefner, not one to miss a beat, replied, "That's all right. Neither have I." The two would begin a high-profile relationship that would span the better part of seven years. During that period, Hefner would inspire Barbara Klein to change her name to Barbi Benton. In return, Benton would inspire Hefner to purchase the Playboy Mansion in 1974.
While Benton had an incredibly successful career as a model for Playboy, having appeared on the cover multiple times, she never scored the coveted Playmate of the Month title. Her relationship with Hugh Hefner wound down in 1976 and from there Benton would go on to pursue other work. Benton would segue from her role as a model into the world of sketch television as she landed a four-year role on the show, Hee Haw (1969). Benton's notable success in Hee Haw would help to launch Benton as a legitimate talent in the world of television. From there, Benton would go on to star on Fantasy Island (1978), The Love Boat (1978), and more than 22 other credits. Benton would even star in her fair share of feature-length films, including The Naughty Cheerleader (1970) and Deathstalker (1983).
If you were to end Benton's story at this point, you'd have one heck of a tale to tell. Fortunately for Benton, there was still plenty more to do. To this point, Benton had succeeded in her work as a high-profile model and television star. What more could she do?
Beginning in the mid-70s, Barbi Benton began dabbling in the world of musical entertainment. Benton would go to release her debut album, 'Barbi Doll', in 1975 before quickly releasing a follow-up, 'Barbi Benton'. Both records would hit the Billboard Top-20 and this would serve as a true launching point for her musical career. Benton would go on to record eight albums in her career, whereupon she would sing, write, and play the piano. Benton would land a #1 hit in Sweden for five weeks with the release of, 'Ain't That Just The Way' (1976) and she would also appear in major hits by Patricia Paay (1977) and Lutricia McNeal (1996). Benton would, in total, release, 'Barbi Doll' (1975), 'Barbi Benton' (1975, 'Something New' (1976), 'Ain't That Just the Way' (1978), and 'Kinetic Voyage' (1988).
While Barbi Benton would quietly retire from the public spotlight in the '80s, she wouldn't completely go away. To this day, Benton continues to embrace her work with Playboy. Benton has appeared in a number of Playboy productions since her retirement, including a four-year run on The Girls Next Door (2005–2009) alongside Hugh Hefner himself.
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