Ellen Stratton (born June 9, 1939 in Marietta, Mississippi) is an American model. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its December 1959 issue. She was also the first Playmate of the Year, for 1960.
Ellen's family worked as sharecroppers picking cotton. When she was 10, her parents decided that there was little opportunity in Mississippi and they moved to California, settling in the Los Angeles area. (Ellen has noted that at the t...
more
Ellen Stratton (born June 9, 1939 in Marietta, Mississippi) is an American model. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its December 1959 issue. She was also the first Playmate of the Year, for 1960.
Ellen's family worked as sharecroppers picking cotton. When she was 10, her parents decided that there was little opportunity in Mississippi and they moved to California, settling in the Los Angeles area. (Ellen has noted that at the time, Mississippi did not require children to attend school.) Her mother found work as an upholsterer.
After graduating from high school, Ellen took a job as a legal secretary and took classes at Los Angeles City College.
While eating lunch at a diner near her workplace, she was discovered by photographer William Graham and his wife, who asked if they could take some test shots of her. The photos were sent to Playboy.
Her work with Playboy took her to Chicago, where she was a bunny at the Playboy Club and lived at the Playboy Mansion. While...
less
