The Strange Story Behind The World's Most Famous Centrefold

One of the most famous traditions in glamour photography is a nude centrefold, a beautiful, artistic, tasteful picture or series of pictures of a glamorous model showing the best and barest side of herself.

Whilst not the inventor, arguably the most famous centrefolds in history belong to Playboy Magazine, one of the first magazines to feature female nudity, with the first edition showcasing the body of one of the most famous women in the world at the time.

However, the story of how Marilyn Monroe ended up as the cover star and first “Sweetheart” in an era before the famous “Playmates” is fascinating because she did not ever meet founder Hugh Hefner nor receive a penny for her appearance on the cover.

Four years before the December 1953 first edition of Playboy Magazine, Marilyn Monroe was not one of the biggest film stars of the era but was a pin-up model under the name Mona Monroe.

In 1949, she took part in a nude glamour shoot photographed by Tom Kelly for a set of calendars distributed by John Baumgarth. Allegedly she was paid just $50 (£1,170, adjusted for inflation) for the work, money that allegedly went towards a payment on her car.

As part of the agreement, she waived the rights to the image, which appeared on a few pin-up calendars before she made her big breakthrough as an actress.

However, in 1953, a young Hugh Hefner saw the potential in Ms Monroe and bought the rights to her nude pictures from John Baumgarth, allegedly for $500 (£9,285 adjusted for inflation).

When the images were found out, Ms Monroe admitted that they were real, which despite the fears of studio 20th Century Fox ultimately led to sympathy and increased popularity.

She never received a penny from Playboy despite the success of the magazine, later joking that she had to buy a copy of the magazine herself to see her pictures.