Barbara Edwards

“You’re kidding. You guys are kidding. I can’t believe it. I’m going to call you back. Are you telling me the truth?” exclaims Barbara Edwards who was just informed she was chosen to be our Playmate of the Year for 1984. Once our Miss 1984 got off the phone, she admitted she was so overcome with emotion that she sobbed for quite some time. Barbara was the daughter of a Marine Corps lieutenant colonel which meant even though she wanted to work on her art all day long, she knew she couldn’t allow herself to get comfortable in one place for too long. “I spent the best years of my life in Hawaii, all through junior high and high school,” says the voluptuous brunette. “We never even studied American history, only about Hawaii and Tahiti and the Philippines. I didn't even know who the Presidents were until we came to the mainland. I knew Lincoln and Washington and that's it. But, I could name all the kings and queens of Hawaii.” Although she despised studying and doing her homework, our Miss September 1983 found one course she excelled in—art. “I took a life-drawing class my first semester and the first day, this guy walked out with a robe on, and when he dropped the robe, I couldn't believe it,” recalls the all-natural model. “I didn't know the models would be nude! I could have died, I was so embarrassed. After a while, of course, I got used to it, and soon all the bodies looked the same, but that was the most trying class I ever took.” Soon enough, Barbara’s art was making waves. She won an art scholarship to Orange Coast College, but she says she can’t even begin to compare winning a scholarship to winning Playmate of the Year. “You know, I feel as if I’d been chosen Miss America or Miss Universe. I mean, this is the biggest. Someone told me, ‘You’re the luckiest girl in the world’ and, you know, I am lucky. But, I feel I can also share it with all my sisters, the Playmates and other people. And as long as everybody is happy for me, I am, too,” gushes Miss Edwards. While her art may need to take a backseat for a little while as Barbara celebrates her Playboy win, she is confident this experience will inspire her much of her future artwork. “I like promoting Playboy. I think it is one of the most exciting companies to work for. And just being out there promoting it, advertising the name, is just fantastic. I have a lot of fun. People seem to love Playboy,” says Barbara. It’s hard not to fall in love Playboy, especially when we have such beautiful Playmates like our Playmate of the Year 1984, Barbara Edwards.