Karen Christy — Biography

Karen spent one year at North Texas University before leaving to move to Dallas. In Dallas, she attended a job fair aimed at aspiring Playboy Bunnies and subsequently landed a position at the Playboy Club in Chicago. Shortly thereafter, she earned the title of Playmate. Karen became one of the most well-known of Hugh Hefner's Playmate companions, holding the unofficial title of "first lady" of the Chicago Playboy Mansion, even as Hefner was involved in a serious relationship with Barbi Benton, who was based at the Playboy Mansion West in Los Angeles. By 1976, both of these relationships came to a close after Hefner's affairs were revealed. In 1998, publisher Larry Flynt featured explicit images of Christy and Hefner in the August edition of Hustler magazine.