Beauty may be only skin deep, but Elan Carter has beauty and brains to spare. Tall and slim at 5’9”, the New Jersey-born Elan is a second-generation celebrity – her father, Otis Williams, was a founding member of The Temptations, and as the famous single goes, she’s really got a hold on us. “As a kid, hanging around backstage at Temptations concerts, I met Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson – everyone,” she says. “On my 21st birthday, the Temps sang ‘Happy Birthday’ and gave me my first bottle of Dom Pérignon.” Despite anecdotes like these – and believe us, Elan’s got a million – life isn’t all champagne and roses. Determined to make it on her own terms, Elan studied broadcasting and took acting classes before her star turn as Playboy’s Miss June 1994. “My phone didn’t stop ringing for over a month,” she says proudly. For the next few years, Elan modeled all over the world – in Mexico, Jamaica, and the Bahamas, to name a few hot spots – and had small roles on Seinfeld and Black Scorpion. “I wake up each morning expecting this to be it,” says Elan, explaining her do-it-all, get-it-done attitude – and after all, in Latin, her name means ‘liveliness’. “I want to be a successful actress, and maybe venture into broadcasting!” When it comes to men, Elan will only slow down for the right guy – someone sensitive, honest, polite and intelligent, and most of all, willing to let her do her own thing. “I hope I get to meet him soon,” she jokes. “I love to light candles, play Sade and be seductive!” Dream girl status achieved, Miss Carter.