Debra Jo Fondren was Playboy magazine’s Playmate of the Month for September 1977 and Playmate of the Year for 1978. She was a favorite of many photographers thanks to her long blonde hair, which fell past her knees when she posed for Playboy.
Her original pictorial was photographed by Robert Scott Hooper, who discovered her having lunch at the Desert Inn Hotel on her first trip to Las Vegas. She was a waitress at the restaurant Gallagher’s in Beaumont, Texas when she was discovered for Playboy.
Fondren enjoyed a small measure of success in Hollywood, with small guest star roles on a number of TV series, such as Mork & Mindy and Fantasy Island. She also appeared in some movies, such as Spit Fire.
Fondren faded from public view for much of the 1980s, and at one point she became a born-again Christian. However, she resumed modeling for Playboy in the mid-1990s, her hair then shoulder-length and red.
She also appeared in the Playboy home video Playmates in Paradise, appearing with models many years younger than her. She attended several Glamourcon events in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Fondren lives in Hollywood and works a Registered Nurse for several hospitals in the Los Angeles area.
In her prime, Fondren was exactly the type of blond that became the symbol of Playboy. The small gallery below contain a few images from her Playboy layouts, but the really good stuff can be found here.
While you’re visiting, take a moment to check out the others among my list of personal favorites – Roberta Vasquez, Angel Boris, Kathy Shower, Gail Stanton, Brande Roderick, and Martha Smith.
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