Barbi Benton, a model, composer, actor, singer, and television personality from the United States has a $20 million net worth. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Barbi Benton was frequently featured in Playboy magazine and had regular appearances in the comedy series Hee Haw.
In double spreads published in 1970, 1973, and 1975, she was seen nude. Benton never received the title of “Playmate of the Month,” despite her frequent appearances in the top-tier publication.
From 1969 to 1976, Benton was romantically involved with Hugh Hefner, the creator of Playboy. Hefner and her first met in the late 1960s when she was only 18 and he was 42. On Hefner’s program Playboy, After Dark, she made her debut on television.
Later, Hefner would acknowledge that his encounter with Benton was the best result of his 1960s television program. When she and Hefner split up, Barbi received a sizable financial settlement.
In the 1970s, Benton also had a lot of success as a pop and country performer. On the Billboard country singles list, her debut hit, Brass Buckles 1975, reached at number 5. Lutricia McNeal, an R&B singer, covered her 1976 track Ain’t That Just the Way in 1996. In the UK and Sweden, McNeal’s rendition of the song was a huge smash. In the years following, between 1975 and 1979, Benton created and recorded eight albums.
Young life
Benton was born to a Jewish household in New York City on January 28, 1950. While her father was a gynecologist, her mother worked as an investment advisor. Just two years old at the time, Benton’s family relocated to Sacramento. There, she began attending a variety of classes, including piano and scuba diving lessons. While attending Rio Americano High School, Benton dabbled in modeling. She enrolled at the University of California – Los Angeles after high school, planning to study veterinary medicine.
Career
As a UCLA student, Benton joined a commercial agency and began booking national ads.
She received a significant break in 1968
when she was cast as an extra on the program Playboy After Dark. She started as a background character, but the show’s host, Hugh Hefner, became interested in her after spotting her studying on the set one day. Benton was surprised that despite their significant age gap, he asked her out right away. She agreed to go on a group date with Hefner, though she was a little hesitant at first, and was soon won over.
Hefner was so taken with Benton that he also offered her more important roles on Playboy After Dark, and she eventually rose to co-host the program.
Benton suddenly found herself at the center of the Playboy operation after the two started dating. She is credited with persuading Hefner to buy the Playboy Mansion in Holmby Hills in 1974, even setting up her mother to assist in the sale, after Hefner persuaded her to change her name to Barbara Klein to be more marketable. Since then, The Mansion has evolved into an iconic home that hosts a variety of high-end gatherings.
Benton wed property developer George Gradow on October 14, 1979. Alexander was born in 1986, and Ariana followed two years later. The couple maintains residences in Los Angeles and Aspen, Colorado. In 2012, she provided a tour of her Colorado residence for Million Dollar Room on HGTV.
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