Gay Collier
In the annuals of Playboy, one of the most under rated models is the gorgeous Gay Collier. Multiple sites give her basic stats, 36″, 23″, 25″, and 120 pounds at 5 foot 5 inches. She was born in New Orleans on October 9, 1942. But the cute red head had plans, to dance in a Broadway Musical and the Royal Ballet.
Miss Collier was Playmate of the Month for July 1965.
“A redheaded California coed with keen hazel eyes for a career in ballet, our pirouetting July Playmate double-times through a daily schedule of art courses at Pierce College and afternoon lessons at Natalia Clare’s Ballet School in North Hollywood. On wintry weekends, when she’s not busy earning future tuition feels by dancing in Las Vegas night-club revues, Gay likes to head for the slopes at Squaw Valley (“It’s the only chance I get to show off all the great new skit sweaters I’ve been knitting at home all summer”). Schussing was never sweeter.”
It’s unclear just how many photoshoots she did in total. Based on these pictures though, she did a good number of shoots. Even more puzzling is this article – why “CLOWN PRINCESS?”
“CLOWN PRINCESS
Miss July is a pretty Californian who plans to travel East by stage
Going contrary to the cogent advice of Horace Greeley, July Playmate Gay Collier — a pleasingly proportioned (36-23-35) Californian with keen hazel eyes for a dancing career — plans to go as far East as her talented footwork will take her. Twenty-two-year-old Gay was born in New Orleans, lived in Guam and Nagasaki while her father — currently a North Hollywood attorney — fulfilled his Service stint in the Judge Advocates Corps, then gravitated to the Golden State, where she has been diligently developing her ballet and modern jazz-dancing techniques for the past eight years. As she told us: “My first objective is to land a dancing role in a Broadway musical. After all the years I’ve put in on toe shoes, I figure it’s time I started making the rounds of New York agents’ offices and tried putting some of that practice to work. Eventually, I hope to go to Europe and try out for one of the finer ballet companies, like the Ballet Russe or the Royal Ballet, and I’ve already put my Playmate-photo prize money in a special oversees ‘ballerina-or-bust’ savings account.” Our artful July miss spends her few dateless nights decorating her new Burbank bachelorette pad in a Spanish Baroque motif, reading Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet and knitting ski sweaters (Anything’s better than TV). Her favorite kind of evening includes Cantonese cuisine, a Peter Sellers movie, and “a guy who doesn’t try to make an impression.” We’re impressed.
Interesting that she worked the night clubs in Las Vegas, and we have to wonder if she ever made over seas. She never seems to have even made it to Glamourcon, although she did post surprise once about her popularity, and then again in 2013.
She says that she never made it to Broadway, and ended up working in the aerospace industry which is still pretty cool.
