Mary Eileen Chesterton (December 20, 1949 – October 3, 1979),
known professionally as Claudia Jennings, was an American actress and model. Jennings was ''
Playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother.
K ...
'' magazine's
Playmate of the Month for November 1969 and also
Playmate of the Year
This is a list of models who were chosen as a Playboy Playmate of the Year for the American edition of ''Playboy'' magazine.
List of Playmates of the Year
*1953: Marilyn Monroe
*1954:
*1955:
*1956:
*1957:
*1958:
*1959:
*1960: Ellen Stratton ...
for 1970. She subsequently pursued a career in acting, and was known as the "Queen of
B movies
A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...
".
['B' movie queen dies in crash]
Chicago Tribune, October 4, 1979 She died in an automobile accident in 1979.
Career
Mary Eileen Chesterton (known as "Mimi" to friends and family) was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1949, later moving to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. When her family moved from
Richmond, Indiana
Richmond is a city in eastern Wayne County, Indiana. Bordering the state of Ohio, it is the county seat of Wayne County and is part of the Dayton, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 36,812. Situa ...
to
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...
as a result of her father becoming the advertising director with
Skilsaw, she transferred at the start of her
sophomore year
In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...
to
Evanston Township High School
Evanston Township High School (ETHS) District 202, is a four-year public high school occupying a campus in Evanston, Illinois, a north suburb of Chicago along the Lake Michigan shore. ETHS was established in 1883 and serves the city of Evanston ...
(ETHS) where she graduated in 1968. She was featured in a silent, plotless movie titled after her
nickname
A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
which was shot on
Super 8 film
Super 8 mm film is a motion-picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement over the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format.
The film is nominally 8 mm wide, the same as older formatted 8& ...
by fellow ETHS classmate
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy (born February 16, 1950) is an American film critic and author. He wrote for ''Variety'' for 31 years as its chief film critic until 2010. In October of that year, he joined ''The Hollywood Reporter'', where he subsequently served ...
. She worked as a receptionist at ''Playboy'' and then posed for the magazine in 1969. She adopted the name Claudia Jennings because she didn't want to embarrass her family and that she thought "Mimi" sounded too girlish. Her original pictorial was photographed by
Pompeo Posar
Pompeo Posar (; February 21, 1921 – April 5, 2004) was a ''Playboy'' magazine staff photographer who photographed many centerfold features and accompanying pictures of women featured as playmate of the month. Notably, he was responsible for th ...
.
She was Playmate of the Year in 1970, and was awarded a pink
Mercury Capri
Capri (later Mercury Capri) is a nameplate marketed by the Lincoln-Mercury division of Ford Motor Company on three distinct series of automobiles between 1970 and 1994.
From 1970 to 1978, the Capri was a sport compact marketed in North America ...
.
After her appearances in ''Playboy'', Jennings became an actress in
exploitation movies
An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality " B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become ...
and in television. In 1973, she had a guest appearance on ''
The Brady Bunch
''The Brady Bunch'' is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz that aired from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on ABC. The series revolves around a large blended family with six children. The show aired for five seasons and, after ...
'' episode titled "Adios, Johnny Bravo". Jennings auditioned for the role as
Kate Jackson
Lucy Kate Jackson (born October 29, 1948) is an American actress and television producer, known for her television roles as Sabrina Duncan in the series '' Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1979) and Amanda King in the series ''Scarecrow and Mrs. Kin ...
's replacement on the hit television show ''
Charlie's Angels
''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, producing five seasons and 115 episodes. The series was created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and was produced by Aa ...
'', but the role was awarded to
Shelley Hack
Shelley Marie Hack (born July 6, 1947) is an American actress, model and producer. She is best known as the face of Revlon's Charlie perfume from the mid-1970s until the early 1980s, and for her role as Tiffany Welles in the fourth season of '' ...
.
Death
On October 3, 1979, Jennings died in an automobile collision on the
Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu, California. She was 29.
Jennings was featured in a 2000 episode of ''
E! True Hollywood Story
''E! True Hollywood Story'' is an American television documentary series on E! that pulls back the curtain and highlights some of pop culture's most fascinating people, moments and trends. The series offers exclusive interviews with new insigh ...
'' in which several of her friends and acquaintances were interviewed. The episode was made without the cooperation of her family, who considered the show too "tabloid" in style.
[Albert Williams]
But She Was A Cheerleader
Chicago Reader
The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...
, September 21, 2000
Filmography
Film
Television
See also
*
List of people in Playboy 1960–1969
This list of people in ''Playboy'' 1960–1969 is a catalog of women and men who appeared in ''Playboy'' magazine in the years 1960 through 1969. Not all of the people featured in the magazine are pictured in the nude.
While every month incl ...
*
List of people in Playboy 1970–1979
This list of people in Playboy 1970–1979 is a catalog of women and men who appeared in ''Playboy'' magazine in the years 1970 through 1979. Not all of the people featured in the magazine are pictured in the nude.
Entries in blue indicate tha ...
Further reading
* ''Claudia Jennings –The Authorized Biography''. Midnight Marquee Publishing, 2018, by Eric Jonathan Karell
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jennings, Claudia
1949 births
1979 deaths
American film actresses
Road incident deaths in California
American television actresses
Actresses from Evanston, Illinois
Actresses from Milwaukee
Evanston Township High School alumni
1960s Playboy Playmates
Playboy Playmates of the Year
Actresses from Saint Paul, Minnesota
20th-century American actresses