Going from play to prey
Anna Nicole Smith‘s selection as a Playboy Playmate in 1992 made her a member of an exclusive sorority.
Her recent death at age 39 put her in a more grisly club: Playmates who died young.
“It’s sad how many girls we’ve lost,” says Peter Gowland, who photographed a number of centerfolds in the 1950s and ‘60s.
Previously, the most headline-grabbing death of a Playmate was that of 20-year-old Dorothy Stratten. Just months after becoming the Playmate of the Year in 1980, she was murdered by her jealous estranged husband.
Ellen Louise Maligo, known in Playboy as “Star Stowe,” was found murdered in 1997. Eve Meyer, a 1955 Playmate, was one of more than 550 people killed when two airliners collided on takeoff in the Canary Islands in 1977.
Jayne Mansfield, Tonya Crews, Carol Willis and 1970 Playmate of the Year Claudia Jennings all died in car accidents, while Willy Rey, pictured on Playboy’s first stock certificates, died of a drug overdose in 1973.
Another close shave?
Britney Spears entered rehab Tuesday after a bizarre weekend that included shaving her head and getting a new tattoo.
Spears’ manager confirmed that the 25-year-old pop star had voluntarily checked herself into an undisclosed treatment facility.
There were unconfirmed reports last week that Spears had briefly entered Eric Clapton‘s Crossroads rehab center in Antigua, before the Friday night incident in which she grabbed an electrical clipper at a San Fernando Valley salon and shaved her head completely bald.
Hair-razing fundraising
Meanwhile, the owners of the salon where Spears did her shearing are offering the detached tresses for sale online.
The minimum bid at buybritneyshair.com is $1 million for the hair and extensions, the clipper she used, her cigarette lighter and the can of Red Bull she was drinking from.
J.J. Tognozzi, husband of salon owner Esther Tognozzi, said a portion of the proceeds would be donated to charity – perhaps Locks of Love, which provides hairpieces for poor kids who have lost their hair for a medical reason.
Not that innocent
Nicole Richie‘s lawyer Tuesday entered her not guilty plea to driving under the influence.
Richie was charged with the misdemeanor Friday following a December incident in which she was spotted driving the wrong way down a California freeway.
On the Sly?
Australian customs officials searched Sylvester Stallone‘s hotel room and private jet Monday, three days after seizing banned substances from his entourage as he arrived to promote his new film, “Rocky Balboa.”
The country prohibits the unlicensed importation of a wide range of steroids and performance-enhancing substances.
The birthday bunch
Actress Rue McClanahan is 72. Record company executive David Geffen is 64. Actress Tyne Daly is 61. Actor William Petersen (“C.S.I.”) is 54. Actor Kelsey Grammer is 52. Singer Mary Chapin Carpenter is 49. Actor Christopher Atkins is 46. Actor William Baldwin is 44. Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt is 28. Singer Charlotte Church is 21. Actor Corbin Bleu (“High School Musical”) is 18.