Trivia

Despite her liaison with "Playboy" Magazine's Hugh Hefner, she never was a Playmate of the Month, though she did appear on some covers and in various pictorials.

Recorded and released four albums for Playboy Records in the 1970s.

Her first TV appearances were on the syndicated show, Playboy After Dark (1969), where she functioned as her boyfriend Hugh Hefner's co-host/sidekick.

She appeared on the cover of Playboy four times: July 1969 (initially credited as Barbara Klein), March 1970, May 1972, and December 1985 and in additional nude photo layouts in the December 1973 and January 1975 issues.

She recorded country and pop albums.

Moved to Los Angeles when she was 16 and found some jobs modeling. She met and started a relationship with Hugh Hefner in 1968, when she was only 18 years old. He was 42.

(1969-76) Lived with Hugh Hefner.

Has a son Alexander Benton Gradow (b. 8/23/86) and a daughter, Ariana Gradow (b. 07/13/1988), with husband George Gradow.

In 2002 became an Interior Decorator.

Her father was a military doctor and later a physician in Carmichael, CA.

Her husband, George Gradow, is a real estate developer.

Father is a doctor in Carmichael, California.

Is portrayed by Rebecca Herbst in Hefner: Unauthorized (1999)

She made her screen debut in the 1970 German (ex-West German) comedy film How Did a Nice Girl Like You... (1970) ('How Did a Nice Girl Like You Get Into This Business?', also known as 'The Naughty Cheerleader'). She changed her name to Barbara Benton as the producers wanted a more American-sounding name.