Bonnie Marino

Bonnie Marino grew up in small house made smaller by the amount of people living in it. The brown-haired beauty was raised with four brothers and sisters in the rural town of Lodi, California. The family home may have been modest in stature, but there was always an abundance of good values and love for the simple life. “As you can see this has become really built up,” says blue-eyed Bonnie about her hometown, which compared to its formerly rustic condition, seems to her overdeveloped. “It used to be rural and charming, and now there are all these homes.” While Lodi is seeing a rise in population, Miss Marino hopes it will maintain its country values and won’t become overcrowded like any big city in California. At five feet, nine inches, and with her eye on a modeling career, Bonnie however isn’t blind to the positive side to living in a larger town. It’s precisely why she recently moved to Stockton—a far cry from Los Angeles or San Francisco, but still a lot larger than Lodi. “You don't have as many options as you do in the city. It limits you,” admits Bonnie. Growing up, busty Miss Marino wanted to be a model or dancer, but neither of those careers can flourish in a small town. “I used to wish my mom would put me through modeling school,” explains Bonnie, who went on to focus on career in medicine. To get her foot in the door, our Playmate became a Candy Striper volunteer at the age of 15—she fell in love with the field and currently works at a local clinic. So how did Bonnie go from being a full-time medical assistant to our Playmate of the Month for June 1990? Just ask her hairdresser. After meeting Playmate Katherine Hushaw, a Lodi native herself, through their mutual hairdresser, Bonnie heard firsthand how exciting being a Playboy model was. “If being a Playmate leads to a big modeling job, that's great. If not, that's fine, too,” admits a hopeful Bonnie. “At least now I've fulfilled the dream I had as a young girl. I've modeled for a big magazine. I think I have the best of both worlds.” Miss Marino hopes to move back to Lodi in the future—and if and when she does, she’ll regale her neighbors with stories about her big-time modeling gig.