Karen Thompson was Playboy’s Playmate of the month for August 1961. All we know about her was said here in her Playmate Bio:
“Advertisements for herself. A frequent playboy fashion plate is editorially paged for august. Photography by Mario Casilli.
“For some months now, both readers and Playboy staffers alike have had their interest piqued and their eyesight pleasured by a handsomely-fashioned but lamentably unidentified mannequin modeling a round-the-calendar wardrobe of decollete feminine modes for Playboy advertiser Margie Douglas. When reader acclaim and editorial curiosity demanded an end to the lovely lady’s anonymity, Playboy acted, ferreted out the female in question, discovered she was Karen Thompson, a Los Angeles miss who divides her time between being a tele-vision on such shows as The Aquanauts and Hawaiian Eye and accenting our advertising columns. When we suggested that Karen come into the editorial fold, she was delighted, we were delighted, and the results herewith should prove equally delightful to our readers, who can now make a wide-screen appraisal of Karen’s singular charms.”
As there is no Karen Thompson listed as actresses in either of those TV shows, we can be reasonably sure the name was a pseudonym. If that is the case though, there are four actresses who were in both TV shows.
– Anne Helm (dated Elvis)
– Jo Morrow
– Kaye Elhardt (who did some nudity)
– Linda Lawson
As you can see, it is more likely that “Karen Thompson” was uncredited in this show.
The ads referred to in Karen’s Playboy Biography were these.
As far as I can find out, Margie Douglas seemed to have been a women’s fashion retailer located in Los Angeles who partnered with Hawaiian fashion designer Alfred Shaheen to create a line of Hawaiian inspired women’s clothing.
This ad was from the July 1962 Ebony Magazine.
If you know anything more about Miss August 1961, Karen Thompson, please post comment below!
One of the outfits from her ad?
