For a proud New Yorker to admit defeat and move to California, she needs to be completely certain of her tough decision. But, when you have a dream to make it big in the modeling and movie industry, Hollywood is where you need to be—a lesson that Ava Fabian learned through gritted teeth. “I'm a New York girl and I miss my Sabrett's hot dogs, but there's a lot to do out here,” explains dark-haired Ava. “There’s money to be made and I want some. I want good movie roles; I want the ranch, the boat and the private jet. I'll work for them.” Ava, named after Academy Award winning actress Ava Gardner, was told by her parents at a young age that she was destined to do great things and that her name was meant to be lit up on a marquee. She never forgot her parents’ prediction and has been doing her very best to see it become her reality. “You're going to be seeing me in the movies,” says the voluptuous Playmate who would go on to act in Married with Children and The Drew Carey Show. “I'm strong, I'm a survivor and I have a very good agent.” During a meeting with her agent, Ava was asked if she ever considered posing for Playboy. If only her agent knew beforehand that the Italian-American was groomed as a child to reach for Playboy bunny stardom. “My mother told me ‘I knew you'd do that,’” recalls Miss August 1986 of her mother’s reaction to her Playmate achievement. “’Your father put that idea in your brain when you were a kid.’” Her mother wasn’t joking—Ava’s father was a gold Playboy Club Key holder and would frequently hang out with his friend Joe Namath and slew of Playboy bunnies. “Exposing myself in front of millions of people was an experience I'd been thinking about. I felt sexy and I wanted to share it,” says the Playmate who has to date five Playboy covers under belt. “Playboy photographer Arny Freytag and make-up artist Clint Wheat made me look beautiful, threw me on the couch and, yeah, I felt real sexy.” From her 1986 Playmate photoshoot to her 2010 Playboy feature, Ava Fabian proves that true sex appeal only gets better with age.