You probably remember Patricia Margot McClain as our November 1975 cover girl. She was shown sitting in a movie theater holding--uh--a box of popcorn on her thigh. Saucy, sexy and outspoken, Patricia has a Mae Westian sense of humor and, as a liberated half-Apache female, is a proud member of two embattled groups. She was discovered by Playboy Editor-Publisher Hugh M. Hefner. "I was in a little night club, where you'd never expect him to show up," she recalls, "but he came in, with about five people, get to meet me and invited me to his house. We've been good friends ever since." Patricia attracted a great deal of attention with her cover appearance: At presstime, she was being considered for a part in a special based on the life of John Barrymore, Sr. And other offers have been coming in. It's kind of a surprise route to success for a young lady who won awards for her dramatic ability at both Pasadena City College and UCLA (she has also studied broadcasting and gets a kick out of taping make-believe radio shows). But then, a lot of things about her are unlikely. Born on a ship off the California coast 22 years ago, Patricia is the daughter of an admiral in the U.S. Navy and an Indian lady who spent her early years on a reservation in New Mexico ("I visited there once; the people were so poor, it was pathetic") but now lives in the San Bernardino Mountains. Patricia left home at 17 ("I was raised under my father's thumb; he's very strong and, as a triple Taurus, I'm very rebellious") and worked for a while in a boutique. Thanks, however, to a trust fund set up by her father and her grandfather, she's been able to do more studying than working. In fact, she admits that next to becoming a Shakespearean actress, her fondest ambition was always "to grow up and have nothing to do." But, as a result of her cover shot, it looks as if she'll get lots of work. Somehow we don't think she'll mind.
