Miss December 1964 Playmate of the Year 1965 Born and raised in Oregon, Jo Collins was discovered by photographer Mario Casilli while on vacation in Hollywood with a sorority sister. At the time, Jo was modeling for "Queen for a Day" and appearing in Frankie Avalon-Annette Funicello movies. Casilli recognized Jo's Playmate potential and predicted that she would one day become Playmate of the Year. Jo refused the offer at first but later reconsidered. True to Casilli's prediction, Jo became Miss December 1964 and Playmate of the Year 1965. She also became a Bunny Mother and a Playboy Club Room Director and worked with Playmate and Bunny Promotions. The role that Jo will be most remembered for, however, is when she played GI Jo for American soldiers in Vietnam. At the time, Playboy magazine offered a lifetime subscription for $150 with personal delivery of the first issue by a Playmate. The deal was limited to cities with Playboy Clubs, but when Lieutenant John Price's letter and $150 ($1 from every soldier in his company) arrived from Vietnam, Hef felt it was time to extend the offer. When the "Chicago Tribune" printed that Lt. Price's letter specifically requested that PMOY Jo Collins deliver the first issue, Jo was asked to go and accepted. On her arrival in Vietnam she was met with roses and a uniform; as she explained during her Veterans Day 1998 Cyber Club chat: "I was honorary Sergeant Major and they gave me a uniform. They gave me fatigues as soon as I got off the plane!" While Jo signed autographs and met with soldiers, she realized for the first time what a dangerous position she had placed herself in. She told chat participants, "It was my very first time in a helicopter. It was unreal. Especially in THAT type of helicopter -- one with a gunman. We were being fired on half the time. We were on our stomachs a lot of the time. As soon as it got dark the Viet Cong would start shooting." After returning from Vietnam, Jo worked as a Bunny and then a Bunny Mother at the Denver Playboy Club. During her July 4, 1997 chat, Jo told us, "It was definitely harder to be a Bunny Mother. I think I was the youngest one ever. I was only 26 and there were Bunnies older than I. It was a lot of work. I was the general manager and I basically ran the Club." Jo also helped open a Playboy Club on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood. Since appearing in Playboy, Jo has been married three times: to baseball pitcher Bo Belinsky (with whom she has a daughter, Stephanie), to a businessman and to a movie producer. Today, Jo sells real estate in the Chicago area. There has never been another Playmate experience quite like GI Jo's. She became 1964's Miss December and 1965's Playmate of the Year during the Vietnam War. At the time, Playboy offered a lifetime subscription with personal delivery of the first issue by a Playmate for $150. The deal was supposed to be limited to cities that had a Playboy Club, but when Playboy received a poignant letter and a check for $150 from Lieutenant John Price in Vietnam, Hef couldn't resist. As a result, Jo was sent to Vietnam to represent Playboy and to deliver the magazine. Needless to say, the boys were overjoyed. Now Jo is a self-described "cult figure" with the Vietnam vets, and she still receives bundles of fan mail. Besides appearing in Playboy pictorials, Jo's interesting life has included acting (a part in "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini") a stint as a Bunny Mother (at the Denver Playboy Club) and three marriages (to an athlete, a businessman and a movie producer). Today she sells real estate in the Chicago area. "I've been with Playboy all my life," Jo says. "It's been a very positive experience and I'm very pro-Playboy." That's good -- because we're very pro-Jo. PLAYBOY APPEARANCES: Centerfold, December 1964; "Playmate Review -- 1964," January 1965; "Playmate Play-off," April 1965; Cover girl, August 1965; "Playmate of the Year," August 1965; "Playmate First Class," May 1966; "Premier Playmates Revisited," June 1971; "20 Years of Playboy," January 1974; "20 Years of Playmates," January 1974; "25 Beautiful Years," January 1979; "Past Playmates of the Year," June 1979; "Playmates Forever," December 1979; "Playmate Reunion," April 1980; "G.I. Jo," July 1985; "Ten Hut," October 1985; "Women of the Sixties," January 1989; "40 Memorable Years," January 1994. PLAYBOY NEWSSTAND SPECIALS: "Best From Playboy #2," January 1968; "Holiday Album" (first edition), January 1970; "Holiday Album" (second edition), January 1971; "Best From Playboy #5," January 1971; "Holiday Book," January 1972; "Best From Playboy #9," May 1982; "Best From Playboy #10," January 1983; "Playmates: The First 15 Years," January 1983; "Newsmakers," March 1985; "Playmates of the Year," November 1986. PLAYBOY VIDEO CREDITS: "Video Centerfold: Donna Edmondson," January 1986; "Playmates: The Early Years," January 1991. PLAYBOY CALENDARS: 1966, 1967. MISCELLANEOUS: Commemorative card set. MOVIE CREDITS: "Sergeant Deadhead," a.k.a. "Sergeant Deadhead, The Astronaut" (1965); "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini" (1965); "Lord Love a Duck" (1966).