Bronx native Gloria was working as a teletype operator for AT&T in Manhattan and studying runway modeling at Eileen Stone's school when photographer Peter Basch took pictures for her portfolio. Another photographer, Herman Leonard, called Basch asking him if he knew of any fresh models who might pose for Playboy. "I just happened to be in Peter's studio that day," says Gloria today from her home in Florida. "Anyway, Herman took some pin-up stills and Playboy accepted me. I was in shock. So many beautiful women out there and they picked me?" 

Gloria's centerfold appearance wasn't without consequences. "I was working the lines for the FBI at the time, and I started getting so many personal calls at the switchboard that my bosses brought me into the office and said maybe it would be better if I left. I said 'OK, no problem.' I wanted to get a job closer to home, anyway, and try my hand at acting. I did do some television walk-ons, on Steve Allen's show and others." 

Shortly after she left AT&T, however, a reporter from the "National Enquirer" called. "They wanted to do a story about models, their successes and the drawbacks they'd found. I told them my leaving my job was no big deal, but they wrote the story up with a big headline 'PLAYMATE TOO SEXY FOR FBI.' For about three months I expected the FBI to come knocking on my door." 

While riding to work at her new secretarial job in the Bronx, Gloria met a bus driver. Nine months later they were married. "We've had four beautiful children and 12 grandchildren, and on June 12, 1997, we'll celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary." 

When she met her future husband, Gloria didn't mention Playboy. "One day he was showing a friend the picture of me he had in his wallet, and the friend said, 'That's your wife? You're kidding. I have her hanging up on my wall. She's a Playboy centerfold.' I was pregnant with my first baby at the time and my husband came home and said 'I gotta ask you something. Were you ever a model?' and I said 'Yes,' and he said 'Did you pose for Playboy?' and I said, 'Well, yes, I did. Are you disappointed in me?' 'Disappointed?' he said. 'Why didn't you tell me before? I'm so proud of you!'" He still is. It was her husband who called Playboy Mansion West, after publication of "The Playmate Book," to report that Gloria was alive and well and living in Florida, where she does inside sales for a water treatment company. "I've been there ten years and the guys in the office just found out I was a Playmate!" she says. "But my hair is still long, and red with the help of Nice 'n' Easy. I had a fantastic time doing Playboy, and I haven't regretted it for one minute." 

PLAYBOY APPEARANCES: Centerfold, June 1956; "Playmate Review 1956," January 1957; "Playmates Revisited," April 1964.

PLAYBOY NEWSSTAND SPECIALS: "Playmates: The First 15 Years," January 1983.