Barbi Benton Quotes

"I look at the feminine body as a piece of art."

"I want to get past the Playboy image and really develop myself as an actress, a dancer and a singer."

"My real name is Barbara Klein and I'm from Sacramento."

"Anybody that was famous found their way to the Playboy Mansion. It was exciting for me. But I didn't know half of them!"

"I was studying pre-med at UCLA when I decided show business was for me, and the best way to make it was in music. I had just one problem. I was tone deaf."

"I was also dating someone from UCLA and also I had another suitor, Jimmy Caan. So it was between my college boyfriend, Jimmy Caan and Hef. And Hef won. Within a few months, we were exclusive."

"'Playboy Magazine' has been a devil's advocate for me. Because of the image and type-casting, it's harder to convince people that I can sing. Yet, I probably wouldn't have had the chance, had it not been for Playboy."

"When I was growing up, we were in a high income bracket, one of the highest. I was one of the first in high school to get a car. And I didn't have to wait for it to be a graduation present, either. We've probably got one of the nicest houses in Sacramento."

"There came a time when I had to decide between show business and devoting my full time to medical training. I chose show business."

"Bill Cosby was one of the first people I met at the Mansion, shortly after I met Hef in 1968."

"I've lost a lot of fat and that's through weight lifting."

"When we first dated, I would not go home with Hef, so the only way that he could see me was by taking me out. We went out quite a bit."

"When he died, he took a big piece of me with him. I'm sure that every time I do something, I'll think about having done it with Hef."

"Hef was very protective of the women who went to the Mansion."

"Hef has always been attracted to younger women. He loves to see the world through the eyes of someone seeing it for the first time."

"Circus lions are mean. They don't know anything about affection training."

"I know that part of my success on stage is due to the fact that I've kept myself together."

"But I'd like to be taken seriously as a singer."

"People are surprised that I can walk and talk."

"Nobody thought I could do anything with a singing career... except my singing teachers, who were accustomed to hearing voices that could be transformed into something."

"It took me five years to learn how to sing."

"I don't wish to sound chauvinistic, but I feel the female body is beautiful to look at, more so than a male's."

"As for those who condemn Hef, he's done a great deal for women's lib and sexual liberation as well."

"When I first met Hef, I didn't like him at all. I thought he was too old."

"I have this problem where I'm never satisfied with what I do."

"I will never be Barbra Streisand, but I have done an awful lot more than what I was sent out to be."

"What I really want is to create a name based on my own accomplishments."

"Of course, I'm not exactly the girl next door."

"Actually, diamonds are a very common stone. I prefer emeralds."

"Frankly my parents didn't like him. They objected to the things he stood for. Besides, daddy and Hef are the same age."