Susan Bernard

About Susan Bernard

Susan Bernard, a multi-talented figure from Los Angeles, California, emerged from a Hollywood steeped in glamour. Her father, Bruno Bernard, a Holocaust survivor and renowned photographer, captured iconic images of stars, while her mother, Ruth Brand, was a stage actress and director. In later years, Susan Bernard devoted herself to honoring her father's legacy. She briefly returned to acting in 1999 with a small part in The Mao Game, a film also featuring her son, Joshua John Miller, who wrote and directed the autobiographical project.

Bernard's rise to prominence included being named Playboy Magazine’s Playmate of the Month in December 1966, with photographs taken by Mario Casilli and her father. She is perhaps most remembered for her role as Linda in Russ Meyer's cult classic Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965). Her acting credits also extended to television, with appearances in series such as General Hospital in the late 1960s, as well as Room 222 and The Beverly Hillbillies.

Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, under the name Sue Bernard, she appeared in various B-movies and television programs. By the 1990s, she had transitioned into business and writing, authoring six books, including Marilyn: Intimate Exposures, Bernard of Hollywood’s Ultimate Pin-Up Book, and Joyous Motherhood. As president and publisher of Bernard of Hollywood / Renaissance Road Incorporated, she managed her father’s extensive photographic archive.

Susan Bernard was the daughter of Bruno "Bernard of Hollywood" Bernard, a German-American photographer celebrated for his glamorous Marilyn Monroe pin-ups, and stage actress/director Ruth Brand. At the time of her Playmate appearance, she was believed to be Playboy's first Jewish centerfold, a distinction that has since been questioned. In a 1998 interview, she stated she was the first Jewish virgin under 18 featured in a centerfold, and that she had only posed nude before her mother.

Her filmography includes Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965) as Linda, Stranger in Hollywood (1968), The Witchmaker (1969), That Tender Touch (1969), The Phynx (1970), Machismo: 40 Graves for 40 Guns (1971), Necromancy (1972), The Killing Kind (1973), and Teenager (1974). In television, she portrayed Beverly Cleveland Fairchild on General Hospital (1968–1969) and made guest appearances on Room 222 and The Beverly Hillbillies. She also had a small role alongside her son Joshua John Miller in The Mao Game (199