Biography

Lovely and sultry brunette Jo Collins was born Janet Canoy on August 5, 1945 in Lebanon, Oregon. She's of half Spanish and half Norwegian descent. Jo graduated from North Eugene High School in Eugene, Oregon. Collins was discovered by "Playboy" while working as a page for the TV game show "Queen for a Day." She went on to work as a Playboy Bunny at several Playboy Clubs and eventually became a Bunny Mother. Jo was the Playmate of the Month in the December, 1964 issue of "Playboy" and was the Playmate of the Year in 1965. She earned the nickname G.I. Jo for her USO tours to Vietnam to entertain the troops during the Vietnam War. Collins had small parts in the movies "Ski Party," "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini," "Sergeant Dead Head," "Lord Love a Duck," and "Fireball 500." She was married to famous baseball player Bo Belinsky from 1970 to 1975. Jo Collins did a follow-up pictorial called "Playmates Forever!" in the December, 1979 issue of "Playboy."
- IMDb mini biography by: woodyanders

Janet L. Canoy was her name, but she changed it to Jo Collins after her friend Patsy Jo Collins. She lived in Oregon as a teenager and attended Roseburg High School where she was elected Treasurer of the Student Council and North Eugene High School where she starred in the stage production of Bye Bye Birdie before graduating from Albany High School in June 1963. She once told a reporter that she worked at the Portland Civic Theater, but no records of her working there have been found nor is there any indication that she did modeling -other than appearances on Queen for a Day- before being crowned Playmate of the Month in December 1964. She was subsequently crowned Playmate of the Year in 1965, and with measurements of 35-24-36 it's easy to see why.

Hugh Hefner had her tour in Vietnam to entertain the troops who dubbed her "G.I Jo". She was popular with audiences with led to a contract with American International Pictures who cast her in several movies like Ski Party (1965) and Fireball 500 (1966) before marrying an aspiring screenwriter named Robert Henderson whom she met in her hometown years prior. I found it interesting that she used aliases like Janet Candy and Janet Laws throughout her marriage. They divorced a few years later and she married Bo Belinsky of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The couple lived in Honolulu, Hawaii where they had a daughter. They divorced several years later because of Bo's alcoholism and she left for Chicago, Illinois where she stayed at the Playboy Hotel and Towers with the assistance of Hugh Hefner himself. Jo spent a few years there until meeting a man named Eugene. The two married and spent their remaining years in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois until his death in 2000. Jo worked at a leasing agency until her death in 2010 and was survived by her daughter.
- IMDb mini biography by: Samuel Claesson

(c. 1963) Graduated North Eugene High School, Eugene, Oregon.

Playboy Playmate of the Month December 1964

Playboy Playmate of the Year 1965