Christa Speck, one of the most celebrated Playboy Playmates of her time and the wife of television producer Marty Krofft, died March 22 of natural causes at her home in Los Angeles. She was 70.
The dark-haired Speck, a native of Danzig, Germany, was working as a bank secretary at Bank of America when she was discovered by Playboy.
She was named Playboy magazine’s Playmate of the Month in September 1961 and Playmate of the Year in 1962 (the first foreign-born model to be so named). She worked as a Bunny in the company’s Chicago nightclub, lived in the Playboy Mansion and was featured in all of the magazine’s ’60s pictorials about life at founder Hugh Hefner’s place: 1961’s Playmate Holiday House Party, 1963’s Playmate Pillow Fight and Bunnies and 1966’s The Playboy Mansion.
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Speck was selected by Playboy editors and readers as one of their 10 favorite Playmates from the magazine’s first decade. Her centerfold is seen in the 1978 comedy classic Animal House, which is set in 1962.
Speck married Krofft, of H.R. Pufnstuf and Land of the Lost fame, in September 1965.
Other survivors include their daughters, Deanna, Kristina and Kendra, and their grandchildren, Taylor, Karson, Griffin, Georgia and Drake.
A memorial service is pending.
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