The following is a list of Playboy Playmates of 1961. Playboy magazine names its Playmate of the Month each month throughout the year.
| Connie Cooper | |
| Birth Name: | New York, New York |
| Birth Date: | 20 September 1941 |
| Height: | 5 ft 5 in |
Connie Cooper (born September 20, 1941) is an Italian-American model. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its January 1961 issue. Her centerfold was photographed by Paul Morton Smith.[1]
According to The Playmate Book, she also attended college courses to study real estate and later became a wife and mother.
| Barbara Ann Lawford | |
| Birth Place: | New York City, NY |
| Birth Date: | 7 October 1942 |
| Height: | 5 ft 7 in |
Barbara Ann Lawford (born October 7, 1942) is an American model. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its February 1961 issue. Her centerfold was photographed by Mario Casilli.[2] She also appeared on the cover of the September 1961 issue.
| Tonya Crews | |
| Birth Name: | Alice Crews |
| Birth Place: | Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Birth Date: | 2 February 1938 |
| Height: | 5 ft 4 in |
Tonya Crews (born Alice Crews; February 2, 1938 – August 7, 1966) was a Choctaw American model. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its March 1961 issue. Her centerfold was photographed by Mario Casilli.[3] Crews died in an automobile accident in 1966.
| Nancy Nielsen | |
| Birth Place: | California, U.S. |
| Birth Date: | 14 December 1940 |
| Height: | 5 ft 7 in |
Nancy Nielsen (born December 14, 1940) is an American model. She was Playmate of the Month for its April 1961 issue. Her centerfold was photographed by Lawrence Schiller.[4]
| Susan Kelly | |
| Birth Place: | Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Birth Date: | 15 February 1938 |
| Height: | 5 ft 3 in |
Susan Kelly (born February 15, 1938) is an American model and actress. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its May 1961 issue. Her centerfold was photographed by Frank Bez.[5]
| Heidi Becker | |
| Birth Place: | Klagenfurt, Austria |
| Birth Date: | 11 October 1940 |
| Height: | 5 ft 4 in |
Heidi Becker (born October 11, 1940) is an Austrian-born model. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its June 1961 issue.
Her centerfold was photographed by Mario Casilli.[6]
In December 1979 she again posed semi-nude for Playboy for the "Playmates Forever!" pictorial.
Becker attended the University of Wisconsin.[7]
| Sheralee Conners | |
| Birth Place: | New York City, NY |
| Birth Date: | 12 December 1941 |
| Height: | 5 ft 9 in |
Sheralee Conners (born December 12, 1941) is an American model. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its July 1961 issue.
Her centerfold was photographed by William Crespinal and Sherman Weisburd.[8]
Conners also was the model for the unusual double-sided cover of the December 1962 issue.
| Karen Thompson | |
| Birth Date: | 1939 9, mf=yes |
| Height: | 5 ft 4 in |
Karen Thompson is an American model and actress. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its August 1961 issue.
Her centerfold was photographed by Mario Casilli.[9]
| Christa Speck | |
| Birth Place: | Danzig, Poland |
| Birth Date: | 1 August 1942 |
| Death Place: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Height: | 5 ft 5 in |
| Pmoy-Year: | 1962 |
| Pmoy-Preceded: | Linda Gamble |
| Pmoy-Succeeded: | June Cochran |
See main article: article and Christa Speck. Christa Speck (August 1, 1942 – March 22, 2013) was a German model. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for September 1961, and the 1962 Playmate of the Year.
Her original pictorial was photographed by Sam Wu.[10]
Her centerfold is seen in the 1978 film Animal House, which takes place in 1962.
Speck married TV producer Marty Krofft.[11]
| Jean Cannon | |
| Birth Place: | Long Island, New York |
| Birth Date: | 5 October 1941 |
| Death Place: | Pembroke Pines, Florida |
| Height: | 5 ft 4 in |
Jean Cannon (October 5, 1941 – November 17, 2005) was an American model. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its October 1961 issue.
Her centerfold was photographed by Ron Vogel.[12]
She died on November 17, 2005, in Pembroke Pines, Florida. Her cause of death was not disclosed, but according to The Playmate Book, she had been diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2002.
| Dianne Danford | |
| Birth Place: | Chicago, IL |
| Birth Date: | 9 August 1938 |
| Height: | 5 ft 7 in |
Dianne Danford (born August 9, 1938) is an American model. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its November 1961 issue.
Her centerfold was photographed by Mario Casilli.[13]
In 1966, she appeared in a horror film, Weekend of Fear, directed, written and produced by Joe Danford.
| Lynn Karrol | |
| Birth Place: | Pittsburgh, U.S. |
| Birth Date: | 31 July 1939 |
| Height: | 5 ft 6.5 in |
Lynn Karrol (born July 31, 1939) is an American model. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its December 1961 issue. Her centerfold was photographed by Frank Eck.[14]