Who is a Playboy Model, a country music singer, an actor, and an ex-Girlfriend of Huge Hefner? This lady, that’s who!
Barbi Benton, or Barbara Lynn Klein, was born in New York but grew up in Sacramento. While attending UCLA she got a job at the age of 18 working on the TV show “Playboy After Dark.” Hugh Hefner soon asked her out for a date and the two became an item. While dating, Hugh got her to change her name to the more marketable Barbie Benton, and she lived with him in the Playboy Mansion for some time.
Even though she was Hugh’s girlfriend she never has been a Playmate. But she still made it on to the cover of Playboy Magazine four times between 1969 and 1985. She also started working on the Country Music Comedy Show, “Hee Haw,” where she did comedy sketches and began her singing career. She got several parts in B-Movies (usually there was nudity involved,) before getting into more main stream 70’s shows like The Love Boat and Fantasy Island. She was a guest star on both shows multiple times.
While she is retired from modeling and the country music scene, a number of her albums are still in print, as are a few of her more interesting B-Movie roles. Today Barbie Benton lives in Aspen Colorado with her husband and children.
