Helena Antonaccio

Helena Antonaccio, a petite blonde from Morristown, NJ, had made her way over to New York City for a wig modeling audition. “I'd done some face modeling, so I had a little confidence in myself. But, when I didn't get picked for the wig layout, I was really depressed. I didn't get the job because the woman said I wasn't sexy enough,” recalls the all-natural Italian-American. “Not ready to go home and admit defeat, I just started walking around—and I found myself in front of The Playboy Club.” She had no idea what the Playboy Club was at the time—she was just a sweet, naïve Jersey girl who was incredibly timid. “I still live in the town where I grew up, which has three colleges. It's great for taking classes, plus it's great to be around a lot of young fresh-faced college kids every year. I love it,” she states. “But, being very shy, I spent a lot of time in my own little fantasy world. I loved playing with my dolls, dressing them up and doing their hair in different styles. And I loved drawing pictures and writing little stories, mostly about horses and dogs.” There she was, in front of the Playboy Club feeling rejected by her wig audition when she decided to go inside and see what this Club with the bunny logo was all about. “I was upset and so mad that the casting director from the wig audition thought I wasn't sexy enough that I just walked over to the Playboy Club and asked to become a Playmate. No one told me to do it, and to this day I have no idea how I knew where the Club was or, being so shy, how I knew what to say and do,” recalls Helena of how she ended up a Cocktail Bunny. “I had often wondered what it was like, so I went in and, on an impulse, asked the Door Bunny what it took to qualify. She directed me to the Bunny Mother, who interviewed me, had me try on a costume, and then—just like that—told me I was accepted for training. So, instead of being a failure, I went home with an exciting new career.” From being taught how to comb and fluff her Bunny cottontail properly to learning the iconic Bunny Dip, Helena was anxiously taking mental notes when a Playboy photographer approached her about becoming our Playmate of the Month. “Before finishing Bunny Training School, I was picked as Playmate from my meeting with Pompeo Posar, the famous photographer, who was there taking photos of the bunnies. When he took my photo, he asked if I would be interested in becoming a Playmate,” remembers our Miss June 1969. “Wow, was I ever, and the rest is history. My folks were as happy as I was when I became a Bunny. And now to be a Playmate, too—I'm sure glad I didn't get that wig-modeling job.” So are Playboy fans everywhere.