Donna Michelle, Playmate Of The Year, 1964

Despite the bumper crop of beauties adorning our gatefolds in 1963, the selection of Playmate of the Year proved stunningly simple once Donna Michelle appeared as Miss December. Originally spotted in a high school play by a coperformer, the daughter of West Coast photographer Edmund Leja, Donna was subsequently snapped by him, and appeared on our pages shortly after her 18th birthday. She received a call from Otto Preminger the same week the issue went on sale, and TV and movie offers have since begun pouring in. Delectable Donna's first film appearance will be in the Arthur Penn production, Mickey One, for Columbia, starring Warren Beatty. The initial beneficiary of a newly instituted program of additional largess to be heaped on the usual prestigious Playmate of the Year honors, Donna will receive several thousand dollars' worth of prizes, including an entire wardrobe and matching luggage in Playmate Pink (a new shade conceived by the magazine) and a special all-pink version of Ford's spanking-new sports car, the Mustang. In the midst of television and motion picture assignments, plus personal appearances and promotions for Playboy, Donna is continuing her studies via night school sessions at UCLA. Although rumors persist that our top Playmate's male classmates have had their powers of concentration seriously impaired, there have been no complaints. They obviously welcome higher education's most attractive distraction.