lyle waggoner was the first centerfold in playgirl magazine.

I knew the publicity would be priceless, and that it would be fun to do, and I enjoy doing fun things. It was also understood that the photos would be shot with good taste and humor. It was understood that it wouldn’t be necessary to show everything. I did some checking around and found out that this new Playgirl was going to be a first-class magazine to compete with other contemporary prestige magazines on the market. In a 1976 interview with Playgirl, he recounted his decision to pose nude, saying, 'When Playgirl asked me if I wanted to be the first centerfold for the magazine, my immediate reaction was, ‘Hey, that sounds like fun.’ That was shortly after Burt Reynolds did his centerfold, and I thought the picture of him was very amusing. Who cares?' Lyle never went full-frontal - but he did go first! (Image via Playgirl) In contrast to the image the magazine struggled to portray, he told The Chicago Tribune in 1974, 'I think there are subscribers from the gay community. Soon, he demonstrated his comedy chops, and appeared in many classic sketches, including as a POW in 'The Interrogator' with Harvey Korman and Tim Conway, in a parody of Olympian Mark Spitz, and the show's send-ups of Sunset Boulevard.ĭuring his run on the show, Waggoner appeared as in the debut issue of Playgirl magazine as its first celebrity centerfold.

Modeling and acting, he made his TV debut on an episode of Gunsmoke in 1966, narrowly missing out as the lead on Batman that same year, a part that went to similarly square-jawed, deadpan Adam West.Īlmost immediately, Waggoner landed a spot among the cast of The Carol Burnett Show (1967-1974), often as announcer and as straight man to the show's star and her cast of comics.

Waggoner had run the business with his family for nearly 40 years.īorn April 13, 1934, in Kansas City, Kansas, Waggoner was led into acting by his physique - following a stint in the army and as a door-to-door encyclopedia salesman, a shirtless appearance in a local production of Li'l Abner gave him the courage to move to L.A.

Waggoner had also become known in Hollywood for his successful business Star Waggons, a manufacturing and equipment-rental firm featuring over 800 custom-built trailers used in the film industry.

Lyle waggoner was the first centerfold in playgirl magazine.