Maria Whittaker (born 7 October 1969), also known as Maria Tafari, is an English former

glamour model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Though ...

Page 3 Page 3, or Page Three, was a British newspaper convention of publishing a large image of a topless female glamour model (known as a Page 3 girl) on the third page of mainstream red-top tabloids. '' The Sun'' introduced the feature, publishing ...

girl, and pop singer.

Modelling career

Born on 7 October 1969 in

Hounslow Hounslow () is a large suburban district of West London, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 12 metropolitan centres in Gr ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

, Whittaker made her

debut in '' The Sun'' in 1985, aged 16. With her brunette hair, good looks and natural 36DD breasts, she became one of the most celebrated glamour models of the 1980s. She was named ''The Sun'''s Page 3 Girl of the Year in 1989. Whittaker also appeared nude in ''

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

'' and other men's magazines. In the late 1980s, she appeared with

Michael Van Wijk Michael Van Wijk (born 30 September 1952) is an Indian-born English bodybuilder, professional sportsperson, actor and TV presenter. He is most well known for his role as Wolf on British TV endurance sports game show ''Gladiators'', a role he hel ...

(later known as Wolf from the television show ''

Gladiators A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

'') on the cover of

Palace Software Palace Software was a British video game publisher and Video game developer, developer during the 1980s based in London, England. It was notable for the ''Barbarian'' and ''Cauldron'' series of games for 8-bit home computer platforms, in particu ...

's computer games '' Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior'' (1987) and '' Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax'' (1988). Whittaker is ranked as Glamour Girl No. 80 in ''Glamour Girls: An Illustrated Encyclopedia''.

Music and television

Whittaker appeared as a Hill's Angel in two episodes of ''

The Benny Hill Show ''The Benny Hill Show'' is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill that aired on the BBC and ITV (from 1969) between 15 January 1955 and 1 May 1989. The show consisted mainly of sketches that were full of slapstick, mime, parody ...

'' in 1983. In 1986, she had a cameo role in the movie version of ''

Whoops Apocalypse ''Whoops Apocalypse'' is a six-part 1982 television sitcom by Andrew Marshall and David Renwick, made by London Weekend Television for ITV. Marshall and Renwick later reworked the concept as a 1986 film of the same name from ITC Entertainment ...

''. She made her second screen appearance in the thriller film ''

Tank Malling ''Tank Malling'' (re-released as ''Beyond Soho'' in the UK and ''Crossfire'' in America) is a 1989 British thriller film directed by James Marcus and starring Ray Winstone. The film was written by James Marcus and Mick Southworth. The film wa ...

'' in 1989. The music video for the 1986

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

song "

Anything She Does "Anything She Does" is a song by the British band Genesis. It appears as the fifth track on their highly successful 1986 album ''Invisible Touch'', opening the second side of the vinyl and cassette editions. The lyrics were written by their keybo ...

" featured

Benny Hill Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 20 April 1992) was an English comedian, actor, singer and writer. He is remembered for his television programme ''The Benny Hill Show'', an amalgam of slapstick, burlesque and double ente ...

looking at Whittaker topless on

. Whittaker formed the band Rhythm Zone in 1990, with her as lead vocalist. The band was short-lived, releasing one unsuccessful single named "Stop Right Now (Take My Number)".

Personal life

Her younger sister Lisa Whittaker (born September 1970 in Hounslow) also appeared as a Page 3 girl and the sisters posed together for topless photo shoots. She has an older brother, David, who is an accountant in London. Whittaker is married to Michael West, better known as record producer

Rebel MC Michael Alec Anthony West (born 27 August 1964 in Islington, London, England), better known as Rebel MC and Congo Natty, is a British jungle producer and toaster. He has also gone by aliases including Conquering Lion, Blackstar, Tribe of Issach ...

and Congo Natty. She has three children. Trinity Tafari, her youngest child, is a world champion at

street dance Street dance is an umbrella term for a large number of social dance styles such as: breakdancing, popping, locking, house dance, waacking etc. Social dance styles have many accompanying steps and foundations, created organically from a culture, ...

, and is a part of dance group IMD, which has been featured on ''

Got to Dance ''Got to Dance'', originally titled ''Just Dance'', is a British dance competition that was broadcast on Sky 1 in the United Kingdom from 20 December 2009 to 28 December 2014. Auditions for the show were held in specially built "Dance Domes" and ...

'' and ''

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially ...

''.

References

External links

* *
Forgotten Beauties – Maria Whittaker Interestment.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whittaker, Maria 1969 births 20th-century English singers 20th-century English women singers Living people English women pop singers English female models English female adult models Glamour models Page 3 girls People from Hounslow