The lovely and talented DeDe Lind has come up several times before, and I am totally pumped that she gets her own post! She is an amazing woman who is sweet, funny, and deservedly popular.
Photographed by Mario Casilli.
This picture has been to Vietnam and the moon and its friendly, upbeat subject just keeps on truckin’. Read on and find out more about the single most popular centerfold model in the history of Playboy!
How did she get that gravity-defying figure? Spaghetti, of course. Early in the evening, DeDe turns to the kitchen and her principal avocation, with a flair and success in cooking that does the Swedish and Italian roots of her family tree proud. “Like Mom’s, my best main course is a spaghetti dish,” DeDe says.
(“DeDe Girl.” Playboy, August 1967.)
For a quiet woman, DeDe is not without opinions. “I don’t see how we can get out,” she says of the war in Vietnam. “But — perhaps because I’m a girl and I’m young? — The thought of losing our young men way over there is awful.”
(Ibid.)
Maybe it was that anxious empathy, her sunny spirits, confession of shyness, or maybe a little something to do with the sweet rack and all these adorable girly-girl pictures? — Whatever the cause, DeDe Lind holds the honor of being the undisputed most popular Playmate of all time. She received more mail than any other Playmate before her time and since. Get it, girl!
This popularity was out of control with the soldiers serving overseas in Vietnam. I think a large part of it was her genuine, outspoken empathy for their plight. Dudes seriously flipped out over DeDe Lind, begging relatives to send multiple copies of the magazine in case something happened to their first copy, and writing DeDe truckloads of fan letters. I think that’s actually really cool and a unique and touching cultural phenomenon.
Similar to the pinups in WWII, when young men are far away and fighting for something that 90% of them probably only realize when they get there is far more huge, truly random, and more complex than they possibly imagined, and their comrades are dying around them, I know it’s cliched, but I think it is very valid to get the idea that you have something to fight for. And if that comes from a centerfold of a plucky young gal smiling sweetly in a men’s cardigan, yellow hairbow, and nothing else, then I say go for it!
Ms. Lind’s popularity was such that she has even been to space! True story, non-fiction — on NASA’s Apollo 12 mission in 1969, the nine astronauts who performed the second manned lunar landing in the history of humanity, thank you very much included DeDe’s centerfold in the Yankee Clipper command module. They labeled it “Map of a Heavenly Body.” Hilarious, true, and freaking AWESOME. Nous allons a la lune!
What’s intriguing is that Playboy really massaged the facts of Ms. Lind’s truly interesting life at the time. Yes, everything she says is true, about loving horses and Catalina Island, etc, and all her sweetness and good cheer are genuine, but it was more like a sin of omission. They sort of didn’t mention she was married and had a child.
That often gets thrown around like it is some type of evidence of the magazine’s hypocrisy, but I don’t believe Playboy has any obligation to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth about anything, let alone the private lives of the Playmates. Hef was striving again and again with the centerfolds for the Girl Next Door who happens to be naked, and it was a great opportunity for a lot of these women, like marvelous Ms. Lind, to get a jump on their careers — why bum out all those soldiers, for example, using Ms. Lind as an ideal woman in their minds for whom to survive, with all the details?
sidebar: I don’t know if this is an outtake or an airbrushed elaborate fake or what, but that is pubic hair like two or three years before that actually made its wispy, hinted-at debut in Playboy magazine, and almost four years before a Playmate of the Month fully flashed the carpet. If you have knowledge of this shoot and know what’s up, please explain, because I’m pretty surprised.
Says Ms. Lind in a more recent interview about having been in Hollywood during the swinging late 60’s but not being much of a participant:
“I did marry very young. I had a baby. I was a mom. I never got into the hippie or drug scene. … I dated Bobby Fuller. I also knew Jan and Dean. I wouldn’t go so far to say I dated Jan, but, I was friends with him. So, those are the kind of pop stars I liked. They were a little bit cleaner-cut. More American, Apple Pie.”
(“De De Lind Interview.” James, George. Undated.)
Q – Do you remember any film roles you turned down that maybe later you were sorry you turned down?
A – Yes. There was a movie called ‘Candy’. I actually turned it down. I pretty much had the part. The idea of me at the time portraying a young girl sleeping with all actors — it didn’t sit well with me. (Laughs). Because of that I really didn’t want to do the movie.
(Ibid.)
I was just thinking about doing a Movie Moment on Candy. This clinches it. A famous piece of well-shot, mostly-failed camp, the sort-of-satire’s cast includes Ringo Starr, James Coburn, Sir Richard Burton, and Marlon Brando. And Ms. Lind was right, it was mainly a scandal and flopped, to boot, so good on her for deciding against it. I can’t see someone so sweet and shy having been happy to be part of that glorious and vulgar, hot mess. You’ll see what I mean when I do the Movie Moment. Look for that sometime this week or eventually, maybe! I know myself too well to make promises with actual dates in them. Lord, I am such a lazy person.
Besides hanging out with good pal the lovely and talented Lisa Baker at their place in Boca Raton, Florida, DeDe continues to model and appear at Glamourcon and related events. And I’m happy to say she definitely retains that sunny sense of humor that is clever enough to send up the genre in which she models. Dig that shot above, which comes from her dedelind.com: “Look, Ma, no gag reflex!” Very funny.
You may see more of Ms. Lind’s present doings on her official website or hit her up any ol’ time on the myspace (current mood: amused ), on which some of her top friends are Janet Lupo, Julie Michelle McCullough, and naturally Hef.
Special edit from Ms. Lind: “My Centerfold did not go to the moon. My 2nd. Calendar Photo (Nov. 1969) holding a que stick topless went to the moon and back with Dick Gordon. That photo sold at auction for $17,511.00 this Jan. 2011.” Thanks for the clarification!
Tags: Apollo 12, Apollo missions, Apollo XII, apple pie, astronomy, Bobby Fuller, Boca Raton, boobs, breasts, candy, Catalina Island, command module, death, dede lind, drugs, EAT SPAGHETTI, empathy, Friendohs, funny bunny, Girl Next Door, glamourcon, hippies, hollywood, horses, James Coburn, Jan and Dean, janet lupo, Jersey Girl, Julie McCullough, Julie Michelle McCullough, look ma no gag reflex, love, lunar landing, manned mission, Map of a Heavenly Body, Mario Casilli, Marlon Brando, marraige, men's cardigan, Miss August, Miss August 1967, miss november 1966, models, most popular, motherhood, movie, movies, Music --- Too many notes., naked, nipples, nous allons a la lune, nsfw, nude, Oh my stars, peace, photography, Pictures, pinup, pinups, playmate of the month, pool, procrastination, pubic hair, pubic wars, quotes, Ringo Starr, roommates, Self-audit, Sir Richard Burton, sophia loren, stills, Swinging Sixties, the Girls of Summer, topless, vietnam, Vietnam War, vintage, war, Yankee Clipper, yellow hairbow
June 16, 2010 at 1:02 pm |
Another treasure! 😀
June 17, 2010 at 11:06 am |
I saw “Candy” in an actual movie theater, when it came out. I had to see it because Terry Southern’s book was the most passed-around paperback in high school (“Lady Chatterley’s Lover” a close second).
I missed the very end, because the projectionist stopped the film and announced that someone had phoned in a bomb threat and we had to leave.
The Sixties. You shoulda been there.
June 18, 2010 at 4:37 pm |
At the exact time you were writing this comment, I was saving pictures to eventually use in my Candy post. Synchronicity. Have you seen Myra Breckinridge?
June 18, 2010 at 8:09 pm |
You said you were thinking about a “Candy” Movie Moment post–which is why I brought it up. I do find myself in synchronicitous situations often enough to make me wonder, but I don’t think this is one of them.
I did see “Myra Breckinridge,” in The Long Ago Time, I was very likely stoned, because I remember fuck-all about it
June 19, 2010 at 1:26 am |
I saw Myra Breckinridge woefully sober and believe me, even coming from a camp lover, you are best off.
February 7, 2014 at 3:42 am |
buto
November 20, 2010 at 7:26 pm |
Hey De De is just fine with me! My first love as a 7 year old boy she made the tree fort wall of fame back in 1967! Don’t care want’s shes done and who with. It’s her business and let me tell you she is a lot more innocent than a lot of girls from Playboy. I know cause I’ve dated two and let me tell you it’s not the American Dream, it’s actually hold onto your wallet and run for your life. Life is that way so be it. Long Live De De!!!!!!
January 4, 2011 at 7:03 pm |
fyi. DeDe’s actual flown image from Apollo 12 is up for auction now at RR Auction, and will be from January 13-20, 2010 at http://preview.rrauction.com/bidtracker_detail.cfm?IN=271 AMAZING. You can own the actual picture of DeDe that was flown to the moon!!!
January 6, 2011 at 11:17 am |
Maravilhosa… Queria ter vivido nessa época!
October 23, 2011 at 9:19 am |
Love it!
January 24, 2011 at 6:20 am |
My First Playmate – I Loved Her.
February 17, 2011 at 7:04 am |
Hello,
I am DeDe Lind and I just read the artical about myself on this website. Thank you for publishing me and my photos. However, I would like to clear up a few things that just are not true. Frist of all and most important, I would like for whoever runs this site to please DELETE the following two comments (In Responses) one of which says I am FAKE, and a Sex ClIICH. It was published by coco b. This is totally untrue. The other comment is way out of line and very untrue is well (In Responses) The guy who published this comment about me is not my second cousin or anybody I know. His name is Shawn and he wrote some terrible things about me and doesn’t even know me. I would greatly appreciate it if this too was DELETED from your site. Both of these comments are very untrue. One other thing, my Centerfold did not go to the moon. My 2nd. Calendar Photo (Nov. 1969) holding a que stick topless went to the moon and back with Dick Gordon. That photo sold at auction for $17,511.00 this Jan. 2011. I hope to hear back from you regarding these comments. My main concern is to please DELETE those two nasty untrue comments about myself. Thank you, DeDe Lind
February 17, 2011 at 7:38 am |
Happy to oblige — comments removed and clarification posted. Thanks!
February 19, 2011 at 9:39 pm |
Get DeDe to answer the Pubic Hair shot question
February 19, 2011 at 11:36 pm |
It seems that many pictorials from this time have outtakes including shots that Playboy did not, as a standard, publish. I’m more curious from where the unused photos by the magazine leaked in the first place and ever managed to hit the web, but all I know is what I found that other people had scanned. Ms. Lind’s cannot be the only centerfold shoot with photographs featuring parts that were generally left out of publication. I would say that, to me, it begs the bigger question, how do old, cutting-room photographs that one thinks would be lost to time surface? And shouldn’t the models get compensation if the pictures were held on to for all this time?
March 4, 2011 at 11:15 am |
I loved DeDe since I first saw her in an old Playboy in high school. I only halfway wish she had green eyes–my first shot was her at the pool with that fantastic smile and cute squint I am glad she is still around and same old swee, down home girl at heart. And, aging better than Cindy Crawford will–!!
.As far as pubic hair, the later shots I saw of her in P.B. showed a Lot of black hair–kind of turned me off. The shot of so few pubes is either a shave or airbrushed.
October 12, 2013 at 12:26 pm |
Actually, the later shots you saw in Playboy are probably the airbrushed ones. Even after they started showing pubic hair, Playboy would crudely airbrush black over the pubic area to avoid showing genitalia. The older shot looks much more realistic to me.
May 26, 2011 at 2:14 am |
[…] a MadMan, the collage work of Kenneth HalliwellChart Digging: August 5, 1967 « Echoes In The WindThe Girls of Summer: DeDe Lind, Miss August 1967 « The Thought …Related Blogs on GarageGarage and Tool Organizers « Asia Painted FurnitureKnow about Garage Storage […]
September 8, 2011 at 5:48 am |
You were the first woman I saw topless, and I have been fasinated by you since. I believe that you are the most beautiful woman in the world.
November 20, 2011 at 4:20 pm |
i’ve been in love with dede lind from the playboy magazines,and the facebook and my space she is on.she is a very beautiful woman even in the whole world.
March 26, 2012 at 6:30 pm |
dede lind is the best,and very talented woman is everyway shape and form.
April 2, 2012 at 10:29 pm |
Lind is one of the kinkiest playmates Playboy ever had. Her photos sitting by the hallway wall, the fireplace, the swimming pool, and the shower gave the man an eye-opener of places to have sex besides a bed and maybe make a baby. Speaking of that, can you believe DeDe was already a mother by 1967? She’s not the only playmate: Stella Stevens encountered the same thing. It’s good that they brought up “Candy” and “Myra Breckinridge”-you know what’s the embarrassing part of it? John Huston was in both of them! And he was a legendary director and not an actor! (I don’t know if he gets a pass for appearing in “Chinatown”) A classic example of why the 1960’s was the decade when film as a “motion picture” died and replaced with a phrase that we now know of: movies.
April 24, 2012 at 11:47 am |
august 1967 found dee dee in palyboy magazine and found me on a bull dozer in viet nam her pictures kept me sane and gave me great dreams instead of nightmares thank you dee dee
May 1, 2012 at 7:18 pm |
I was in 9th grade with DeDe at Luther Burbank Junior High School in Burbank, CA. A school tradition was for the 9th Grade class to have a swim party at a San Fernando Valley public pool (Pickwick) that I recall was ‘reserved’ for the use of the class for the day of the event. Food was served and the kids were able to swim, eat and have a good time to mark the end of their junior high journey. DeDe was at the swim party and wearing a white fringed two-piece bathing suit (the tan lines in some of her photos immediately cause my brain to flash on that suit.) This party would have been in the spring of 1962, five years ahead of her PB centerfold appearance. My memory is that her 9th grader body already had most of the curves that are displayed in her photos. I wasn’t a friend of hers and she probably took little notice of me, but like most of the guys in the class I would say that I had a bit of a crush (or a bit of young teen lust) for this beautiful girl. I feel priviledged to have known her and to have seen her beauty and cute sexiness before the world got hold of her. DeDe, you’re one-in-a-million!
June 13, 2012 at 4:33 pm |
[…] orbiting the Moon was not left out of the Playboy prank, as a November 1969 calendar featuring NSFW DeDe Lind, Miss August 1967 had been stowed in a locker that Dick Gordon found while his crewmates were on the lunar […]
October 6, 2012 at 4:01 pm |
love u
October 22, 2012 at 9:08 am |
I want to school with her @ Luther Burbank Jr. High in Burbank, CA. She was the “It” girl there. She was in eighth grade while I was in seventh.
Saw her in a car in Burbank several years ago. Time has been rather kind to her. She’s about 3 months younger than me.
February 1, 2014 at 4:04 am |
I have her 1962 high school yearbooik. Her maiden name started with a G, not L, and she grew up in Orange County.
August 7, 2014 at 2:21 pm |
Dee Dee kept many of us that were in VietNam at the time, looking forward to coming home. Thanks. USMC Nam 67-68 She is a Beautiful lady.
January 18, 2015 at 11:15 am |
Excelent Post
January 21, 2015 at 10:38 am |
in 1967 i was a grunt in vietnam.after someone in our platoon received the aug eddition of playboy we decided to write you a letter.you graciously sent the whole platoon an autographed picture i still have in an album of pics from nam. Thank you for giving us a smile and a brite spot in such a dismal place. ty hawk
February 11, 2015 at 12:48 am |
H sawi D ede
It’s cary long time no talk In fact all the way back to 9th grade.my phone number is 818 355 2035 remember Luther Burbank days and my band the casuals I still see tom jackman and I saw Ronnie proud about 10 years ago. please give me a call
February 11, 2015 at 1:20 am |
Hi dede
It’s cary j van steinburg
It’s cary long time no talk In fact all the way back to 9th grade.my phone number is 818 355 2035 remember Luther Burbank days and my band the casuals I still see tom jackman and I saw Ronnie proud about 10 years ago. please give me a call
February 16, 2015 at 10:37 pm |
Hi
dede
its cary
from back in 9th grade Luther Burbank junior high I’m sure you remember my band the casuals and I’m still friends with Tom jackman in fact we’re going camping next week at Zuma Beach my phone number is 818 355 2035 please give me a call miss I still remember our ride to the beach and your father’s 1960 Res Bonneville convertible