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The above image (and the first image set below) was taken on May 17 1954
when Alice Denham was 21 years old; about two years and a couple months
before her appearance as the July 1956 Playboy Playmate of the month.
Alice Denham was born on Jan. 21 1933 in Jacksonville Florida. When
Bettie Page
photographer
Charles West
described Alice Denham as elegant and well educated, he wasn't kidding.
Alice Denham earned a bachelor's degree from the University of North
Carolina in 1949 and received her master's degree from the University of
Rochester in 1950. Alice Denham also taught creative writing and served
as an adjunct professor of English from 1970 to 1980 at the City College
of New York.
Alice Denham was ready for adventure and left the confines of her
suburban Washington home for literary New York where her heros lived.
Once there, Alice Denham indulged her love of literature and subsidized
her income by posing for pin-up magazines, advertisements and as a
model for camera clubs. A few of the people Alice Denham hung out with
were James Dean, Marlon Brando and Norman Mailer. Alice Denham is an
author who has written articles and short stories throughout the years
for "Cosmopolitan", "The New York Times", "New York" magazine, "Playboy"
and has written many novels. One of her short stories, "The Deal" was
filmed in 1988.
Alice Denham's most recent published work is titled
"Bad Boys"
or "Sleeping With Bad Boys: A 1956 Playboy Model's Escapades with James
Dean, Hugh Hefner, Norman Mailer and the famous writers of the 1950's
beat generation" which gets 4.5 stars at Amazon! Alice Denham has
distinction of being the only woman to have published an article in the
same issue of "Playboy" that she posed in. All was not roses for Alice.
During her glory years in New York, Alice Denham describes her residence
as a "scummy" West 55th Street apartment.
Alice Denham was an integral part in the 1950s New York Modeling
Scene. She was one of a handful of models (like
Bettie Page,
Lois Austin
and
Shelley Leigh
that made it beyond being a faceless model, she was desired for photo
shoots. New York was a large hotbed of photography during the
1950s. Many woman accepted jobs to help make ends meet and the work was
easy (except for the occasional lecherous photographer). Then there were
the Camera Club owners who took their cut organizing photo events.
In effect, photography pimps. On the assembly line end, many people made
businesses selling photographs sized mainly at 4x5". 4x5s were
relatively small which kept overhead low and customers could easily hide
them. A Camera Club photographer stated that a lot of guys set up labs
in their apartments and printed photographs to help make an extra
buck. This was going on all over the city, that's why there's still a
dearth of these 4x5" photographs floating around in the market. And if
you didn't want to spend the money on a camera and/or pay a model, it
was just as easy to copy someone else's work and distribute it yourself.
You just had to make sure you did not lift the wrong person's stuff or
you could have ended up with your legs broken which still holds true
today. If you published your own magazine, it was not uncommon to have
been funded by The Mob. Only a few beauties really stood out throughout
this complicated maze and Alice Denham was one of them. Alice Denham did
not affect any of the strange comical facial expressions (usually
comprised of feigning a surprised look or an over-exaggerated smile
which ended up looking more like a grimace) typical of 1950s pin-up
photography. Alice Denham appears to have been the consummate model.
Image 054 is a portrait by Peter Basch. The last three images were also
taken on the same May 17 1954 buy a different photographer.
Thanks to Ed Carter and an anonymous member for contributions on this
page!
Sources: Wikipedia, The Villager
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