Charlene Holt's legend may not loom as large as some of her contemporaries, but you can bet that the Miss Sweater Girl of 1958 could fill out a bra with the breast of 'em. Born "Verna Charlene Stavely" in Snyder, Texas in 1928, Charlene attended McMurray University and eventually escaped the rural south and headed east. She was crowned Miss Maryland in 1956 and competed in the Miss USA pageant that year in Long Beach, California. Charlene was only a semi-finalist, but she's #1 in our hearts! Being a beauty queen helped Charlene launch a modeling career, and in 1957, she was one of just nine models who were sent to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, by Rose Marie Reid Swim Suits of Los Angeles and the Eileen Ford Agency in New York City. Charlene started appearing in commercials, eventually signing a $50,000 modeling contract. After spotting her in a Revlon commercial, Howard Hawks took notice. The legendary director cast her in several films alongside John Wayne. Some of her onscreen credits include Hawaiian Eye (1962), Saints and Sinners (1962), Days of Wine and Roses (1962), Island of Love (1963), The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1963), Red Line 7000 (1965), The Hero (1966), Hour of the Gun (1967), It Takes A Thief (1968), Wonder Woman (1974), Police Story (1975), and Melvin and Howard (1980). Charlene passed on in 1996, but her statuesque figure will live forever thanks to a lingerie scene in Hawks' El Dorado (1966). That's the only skin she gave us, but it's forever sealed in Mr. Skin's spank bank!
