Sondra Theodore (born December 12, 1956) is an American model and actress. She was ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' magazine's

Playmate of the Month 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 ...

for its July 1977 issue. Her

centerfold The centerfold or centrefold of a magazine is the inner pages of the middle Folio, sheet, usually containing a portrait, such as a pin-up or a Nudity, nude. The term can also refer to the model featured in the portrait. In saddle-stitched maga ...

was photographed by

Ken Marcus Ken Marcus (born October 2, 1946) is a famous American photographer, best known for his work in glamour and erotic photography with ''Penthouse'' and ''Playboy'' magazines and for his own website. For over 50 years he has produced hundreds of ...

. Her Playmate pictorial was the first to include the Data Sheets that Playmates had been filling out since 1959. Theodore was born in

San Bernardino, California San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

. At age 17, Theodore played the lead role in a local San Bernardino summer youth theatre musical production of Cinderella in 1974. The next year in honor of the

United States Bicentennial The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States as an independent republic. It was a central event in the memo ...

, she represented her native city as Miss Bicentennial. She spent one year at college before heading west to Los Angeles in July 1976 to pursue a career in acting. Briefly a

Sunday school ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

teacher, Theodore became the girlfriend of ''Playboy'' publisher

Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles. Hefner extended the ''Playboy ...

for several years, living alongside him at the

Playboy Mansion The Playboy Mansion, also known as the Playboy Mansion West, is the former home of ''Playboy'' magazine founder Hugh Hefner, who lived there from 1971 until his death in 2017. Barbi Benton convinced Hefner to buy the home located in Holmby H ...

. She can be seen on the famous ''Playboy''

pinball machine Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...

alongside Hefner and fellow Playmate

Patti McGuire __NOTOC__ The following is a list of Playboy Playmates of 1976. ''Playboy'' magazine names its Playmate of the Month each month throughout the year. January Daina House (born December 30, 1954, in Dallas, Texas) is a former model and actress ...

. During this time she sang with the "Singing Playmates". Sondra Theodore has made guest appearances on TV in ''

The Bob Newhart Show ''The Bob Newhart Show'' is an American television sitcom produced by MTM Enterprises that aired on CBS from September 16, 1972, to April 1, 1978, with a total of 142 half-hour episodes over six seasons. Comedian Bob Newhart portrays a psychol ...

'', ''

CHiPs ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. After the final first-run telecast on NBC in May 1983, the series went into reruns on Sundays fr ...

'', ''

Fantasy Island ''Fantasy Island'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Gene Levitt. It aired on ABC from 1977 to 1984. The series starred Ricardo Montalbán as the mysterious Mr. Roarke and Hervé Villechaize as his assistant, Tattoo. ...

'', ''

Barnaby Jones ''Barnaby Jones'' is an American detective fiction, detective television series starring Buddy Ebsen as a formerly retired investigator and Lee Meriwether as his widowed daughter-in-law. They run a private detective firm in Los Angeles, Califor ...

'', and '' Pink Lady''. She had small roles in the theatrical films ''

Skateboard A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. It is usually made of a specially designed 7–8-ply maple plywood deck and has polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks. The skateboard ...

'' and '' The Man Who Loved Women''. In 2021, she spoke out about her trauma during her time with Hefner and the difficulties she endured in the docuseries ''Secrets of Playboy'' on the

A&E Network A&E (an initialism of its original name, the Arts & Entertainment Network) is an American cable and satellite television network and the flagship property of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Walt Disney Company ...

. She claimed that Hefner was into bestiality and

snuff film A snuff film, snuff movie, or snuff video is a type of film, sometimes defined as being produced for profit or financial gain, that shows, or purports to show, scenes of actual homicide. The concept of snuff films became known to the general pub ...

s. In an interview with Fox News Digital in August 2022, Theodore claimed that Hefner manipulated her into participating in an

orgy An orgy is a sex party where guests freely engage in open and unrestrained sexual activity or group sex. Swingers' parties do not always conform to this designation, because at many swinger parties the sexual partners may all know each other o ...

. She also alleged that Hefner hosted prostitution sex parties, referring to them as "Pig Nights."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Theodore, Sondra 1956 births American actresses Living people 1970s Playboy Playmates 21st-century American women