Teri Weigel

Growing up in a very close and very large family, Teri Weigel made sure everyone was aware of her bold personality. “I remember doing the craziest things to get attention. I would put the plastic fruit from the dining-room table under my T-shirt and parade around for laughs,” remembers dark-haired Floridian. “My grandfather was a successful butcher. He bought a whole block in Pompano Beach. All of his children and their children lived on the same street. I grew up with 17 cousins. There was always something happening.” Miss Weigel strived to forge her mark not only in her large family, but also on the entertainment industry. After appearing in episodes of Miami Vice, the Playmate would have casting agents call her incisively with role that were perfect for her. “I was in a wedding scene in one of the early episodes of Miami Vice. I did a casino shot in another. I walked across the street in a bathing suit in Scarface. I had something in Stick,” says Teri, who went on to appear in the television show Married with Children and in the film, Predator 2. Even though her acting career had taken off, modeling was what she really wanted to do most. Upon hearing from modeling agency after modeling agency that she was too short for model in New York, she refused to give up on her goal. “I was cocky back then. I said, ‘you'll see,’” says Teri. She quickly moved to Europe where her beauty was immortalized in magazines. Living in Germany, France, Italy and Japan was an enriching experience, but it didn’t make Miss April 1986 any happier so she flew back to the United States. “It's not so glamorous. It's not so exciting. I've lived all over the world by myself,” confesses Miss Weigel. Teri decided when she moved back home she would pose for Playboy, a publication that accepts models of all heights. This decision, she knew, would make her happy, but her strict parents would be very disapproving. “My mom is very conservative. For a while, she wouldn't go shopping with me because I wore G-string underwear,” explains Miss April 1986. “I took home a couple of issues of Playboy and said, ‘look, Mom, this is art.’ I took home a couple of issues of Penthouse and said, ‘this is filth’. She's come around to seeing why I'm doing it. My grandmother found out I was doing Playboy and can't wait.” If only more mothers and grandmas were that supportive.