Nancy McNeil

Playboy photographers will discover Playmates anywhere and everywherefrom the grocery store to a girl walking passed them on the street. Bill Figge, however, is one of the few Playboy photographers to find Playmate-potential while shooting a wedding. Nancy McNeil was a bridesmaid at her friends wedding when Bill, the wedding photographer, spotted hershe is only the third Playmate to be found in such a way. The luck of the Irish was certainly with me that day. After the ceremony, the attendants were posing with the bride for pictures when Bill Figge and his wife Mel asked me if I'd like to audition for Playmate, recalls Nancy. At first I thought they were putting me on, but it turned out they were really on the level. With her petite, yet voluptuous figure and cute smile, Bill and Mel knew this was a beauty that Playboy fans would love to see as a centerfold and wouldnt let her busy Bank of America schedule stand in the way of that. The bank was so large I felt lost in it, but the studio is smaller and a more informal operationwhich suits me fine. And we have a lot of fun, too, like celebrating birthdays and other occasions with after-hours champagne parties, says the all-natural brunette who went on to work with Bill and Mel. It's a completely different experience. From the bank to the set of a photoshoot, Nancy has been enjoying working in a creative environment that has allowed her to meet celebrities like notorious football player, O.J. Simpson and his first wife, Marguerite Whitley. My friends now that Im enthusiastic, curious, creativeto a degreeand practical, says our Miss July 1969 before sneaking up on fellow Figge employee, Alison, with cake that turns into a food fight involving the entire staff. I guess I cant take it quite as well as I dish it out, but Im getting a lot of practice; the same happened last year. There must be something Mad-Hatterish about Alisons birthday. Once she washes out vanilla icing and sprinkles from her hair, Nancy tells us becoming a Playmate has really brought her out of her shell and off her couch. I used to be a real bedbug, but I think Im cured, admits our Playmate of the Month. Id lie around, feeling guilty not only about staying in the sack, but also because I wasnt doing what I should be doinglike the vacuuming. I feel a lot better since I started getting up bright and early every day. I still put off the cleaning, but now I only have one thing to feel guilty about. With her time now occupied by work, reading and tending to her plants, Nancy believes shes finally left her couch-potato days behind her. Since moving to an apartment, though, I've switched from animals to flowersmoss roses, nasturtiums and zinnias. I've found that digging around in the dirt has a relaxing effect on me; and there are times when I really needed to unwind, because I inherited my father's temperament, she admits. Everything's fine when I'm happy; but if I'm not, watch out! It must be the Irish in me. Nancy McNeil is a beautiful rose with many complex petals and thats precisely why we love her.