William Vassar Figge (March 25, 1919 – May 1976) was an American photographer who, along with his wife Melba, ran a photography studio in Glendale, California.

Biography

Figge was a combat photographer in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. After the war, he failed to find work as a cinematographer, so he stayed with photography and specialised in

portraiture A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...

, shooting

weddings A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marria ...

and contributing to ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, 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 H ...

'' magazine. Notably, he discovered many

Playmate A Playmate is a female model featured in the centerfold/gatefold of ''Playboy'' magazine as Playmate of the Month (PMOTM). The PMOTM's pictorial includes nude photographs and a centerfold poster, along with a pictorial biography and the "Playm ...

s at weddings. Bill Figge, as he is sometimes called, shot 48

gatefold A gatefold cover or gatefold LP is a form of packaging for LP records that became popular in the mid-1960s. A gatefold cover, when folded, is the same size as a standard LP cover (i.e., a 12½ inch, or 32.7 centimetre square). The larger gatefo ...

s and 3 covers. The couple ceased contributing to Playboy when the magazine became more risqué in the 1980s. Bill and Melba had three sons, (Greg, Stephan and Eric,) and one daughter (Leslie). Greg and Leslie run the studio that their parents began, Figge Studios. Eric, the only child to have formal education in photography, photographs architecture professionally. Figge died in Glendale, California, at the age of 57.

''Playboy'' centerfolds

*April 1965 - Sue Williams *May 1965 - Maria McBane *October 1965 - Allison Parks *1966 Playmate of Year - Allison Parks *June 1966 -

Kelly Burke Kelly Burke (born December 31, 1944) is an American former model who was ''Playboy'' magazine's Playmate of the Month for its June 1966 issue. Her centerfold was photographed by William Figge. Burke was born in Los Angeles, California. Acco ...

*July 1966 -

Tish Howard The following women have appeared in the American or international edition of ''Playboy'' magazine as Playmate of the Month. Those who were also named Playmate of the Year are highlighted in green. A common misconception is that Marilyn Monroe wa ...

*November 1966 - Lisa Baker *July 1967 - Heather Ryan *1967 Playmate of Year - Lisa Baker *November 1967 - Kaya Christian *December 1967 - Lynn Winchell *February 1968 - Nancy Harwood *March 1968 - Michelle Hamilton *April 1968 - Gaye Rennie *September 1968 - Dru Hart *February 1969 - Lorrie Menconi *April 1969 - Lorna Hopper *July 1969 - Nancy McNeil *January 1970 - Jill Taylor *March 1970 - Chris Koren *June 1970 -

Elaine Morton Elaine may refer to: * Elaine (legend), name shared by several different female characters in Arthurian legend, especially: ** Elaine of Astolat ** Elaine of Corbenic * "Elaine" (short story), 1945 short story by J. D. Salinger * Elaine (singer), ...

*August 1970 - Sharon Olivia Clark *1971 Playmate of Year - Sharon Olivia Clark *June 1972 - Debbie Davis *August 1972 - Linda Summers *March 1973 -

Bonnie Large Bonnie, is a Scottish given name and is sometimes used as a descriptive reference, as in the Scottish folk song, My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean. It comes from the Scots language word "bonnie" (pretty, attractive), or the French bonne (good). That ...

*August 1973 - Phyllis Coleman *October 1973 - Valerie Lane *March 1974 - Pamela Zinszer *September 1975 - Mesina Miller *May 1979 - Michele Drake

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Figge, William 1919 births 1976 deaths 20th-century American photographers American military personnel of World War II