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Barbi Benton Biography
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At sixteen she had regular work doing TV shows and more jobs kept coming in. Among these shows she did was the "Playboy After Dark" show which featured artists and entertainers, performing in the legendary Playboy Mansion surrounded by Playboy Playmates and bunnies offcourse. Before Barbi Benton actually met Hugh Hefner, she pretended that she was his girlfriend for two episodes while on the show. Soon enough she did get to meet Mr. Hefner and she did become Hugh Hefner's girlfriend, that not so long ago she was just pretending to be, now she actually was.
Hugh Hefner, shortly after meeting young Barbi Benton, suggested the name change to the more celebrity sounding Barbi Benton from Barbara Klein, she took Mr. Hefners suggestion and made the name change. She was eighteen when Hugh Hefner asked her out and he was already fourty two, so she was understandably hesistant at first because she had never gone out with anyone older than twenty four, Hugh replied; ".That's all right! Neither Have I." The two hit it off right away and what started out as just pretend lasted eight years.
The 60's was about over and Babri Benton was poised to be a multifacted iconic glamour girl of the incoming decade of the 70's. Although she had her career already rolling even before meeting the master of the mansion but being Mr.Hefner's girlfriend surely had its perks and With the help and through her boyfriend, the "man's man" Hugh Hefner, she got to go to parties, places and there meet and mingle, broadening her connections even more.
She pursued a career as a recording artist, performing and headlining at Las Vegas."Brass Knuckles", her 1975 record, hit Billboard's Country Singles Chart at the 5th top spot. She wrote, played the piano and sang the songs on all her eight albums that she's released. She took at stab on producing her own record on the last album that she released. Another better known song from Barbi benton is the 1976 release "Ain't That Just The Way", remade by Lutricia McNeal in 1996, the song still hit the charts as the first time it was released in the 70's.
Her foray into acting and films wasn't what you'd call "successful" as ticket sales returns go but acheived cult status levels among fans of B-movie flicks. The films in her credit are 1972's Naughty Cheerleader, 1980's For The Love Of It, 1981's Hospital Massacre, 1983's Deathstalker, and Schulmädchen in 1984. Although no monetary proof that could be waved, bragged and flagged about from these films she did, they were still loved and still loved to this day and are considered classics in certain circles and enthusiasts of the genre her films are classified under and belong to.
Also known as the sexy, gag trading cutie on the country music TV series "Hee Haw", she also did comedic skits along with other regulars like herself. Four seasons after, she left the show to pursue broader avenues for her career as an actor. In 1977, she was part of the cast on ABC-TV's short-lived comedy series about an aspiring all female rock group, "Sugar Time!". "Jiggle TV" - a term coined by an upstart TV critic after seeing the show and was then used to classify shows that feature young, attractive, sexy women.
From 1969 to 1976, Barbi Benton lived with Hugh Hefner as his girlfriend. She left Hugh Hefner and life at the mansion when she realized Hefner was not interested in starting a family with her.
On October14, 1979, she married successful real estate developer, George Gradow. The first of their two children, a son, born on August 23, 1986, Alexander Benton Gradow then two years later, a daughter followed, they named her Arriana. She owns homes in both Aspen, Colorado and Oahu. Barbi Benton now spends most of her time designing, interior decorating and building homes.
