Shannon Tweed, Playmate of the Year, 1982

The Sun Glares Down At Los Angeles. Out on the hillsides, it bakes the underbrush close to combustion; but in a house in Holmby Hills, it is filtered through cut-glass windows. It scatters bright mosaics on the carpet and dances warmly in the eyes of Shannon Tweed.

"I didn't know what to expect when I came here," she says, smiling, folded in a leather chair in the Library of Playboy Mansion West. "It's been a little amazing to me."

She is languorously tall; her legs bend over the chair's arms and still almost touch the carpet. She wears blue jeans, a thin, tight pullover and no shoes. Her hair is gold. "I was rejected by the magazine twice after testing to be a Playmate. It seemed as if I were wasting time just trying to get into Playboy when I could have been making money on other jobs. And now I end up as Playmate of the Year--it's a bigger happening than anything that's happened (text concluded on page 217) Playmate of the Year (continued from page 175) to anyone else I know."

A year ago. Shannon was a top Canadian fashion model based in Toronto, But her real, honest-to-goodness ambition was to be a Playmate. It took a Toronto TV show called Thrill of a Lifetime to make us realize that Shannon's third try might be charmed.

"Thrill of a Lifetime would find everyday people and help them do what they'd always wanted to do. They got in touch with PLAYBOY in Chicago. we did some more test shooting and I finally got accepted."

As it turned out, Shannon not only quickened hearts as last year's Miss November, she literally quickened the concept of the Playmate with her debut on The Playboy Channel.

The Playboy Channel is a new cable-television venture. Created to produce classy, brassy adult entertainment, it already reaches more than 200.000 American homes. When the producers of the channel went looking for their first video Playmate of the Month, they found there was nothing more stylish than Tweed. Shannon brought the PLAYBOY centerfold to life in 15 minutes of view and interview that were both glossy and intimate.

"Modeling for The Playboy Channel wasn't any more difficult than modeling for the magazine." she says. "But it's difficult for me to watch it, to see myself moving around instead of standing still. It's strange, in a nice way, though, because it's beautifully done."

The lady's triumphs don't end by the time her centerfold fades out--not by a long shot or a close-up. For beauty and devotion, for going from last year's model to a model of what PLAYBOY represents. Shannon was the clear-cut choice as our 1982 Playmate of the Year.

You may recall that we used to give Playmates of the Year truckloads of merchandise--everything from sloop to nuts. Last year, we gave Terri Welles 13 pairs of incredibly expensive sunglasses, even though, she already had a pair of Foster Grants. Well, we've decided to let the Playmate of the Year spend all that money herself. The only prize that Shannon can't put in the bank is her 1982 Porsche 928. Her cash award is $100,000.

"I'm terribly excited by all of it." she says, looking through the window at the bright new car. It sits in the Mansion's circular driveway, glinting in the sun. "The honor counts for a lot. especially after the trouble I had becoming a Playmate. I think this is a much better system--giving the Playmate of the Year a check and a car instead of all those goodies she might not really need."

There's a Christmas-morning sparkle to her face when she talks about the car.

"That's a $45,000 car! I drove it down Sunset Boulevard the other day and made a U turn around the Beverly Hills Hotel. But the speedometer goes up to only 85--after that, I guess, you're not supposed to know how fast you're going. It's not like Canada, where they let you take your car out on auto-race tracks to see how fast it'll go.

"And $100,000 is a lot of money. I gave my mother some of it right away, paid some bills and went shopping for clothes. I'm going to have to decide how best to invest it. Oh--and there was another American milestone last week. I finally got a VISA card! I got it on Monday and went over my limit on Friday."

She grins--a girl with $100,000 in the bank can travel without a VISA.

Later in the day, Shannon drives to a small television studio in Burbank. On the way, she relates the story of her newest move--from centerfold to center stage.

"Ann Shanks, the coproducer of The Playboy Channel, asked me to audition for her. There were a lot of other women there, too. I had no idea what would come of it--I just went in, sat down and read. Then I sang a few lines from a funny song, and that was it. They couldn't believe I was breaking into song--I was terribly nervous, but I enjoyed it. I had a big blouse on and the sweat was trickling down my rib cage; how's that for glamor?"

She was glamorous enough: Shannon was first choice as co-host, with Peter Tomarken, of Playboy on the Scene, which began as a sex-news spot added to the rest of the show--sort of a video hickey. But Shannon and the rest of On the Scene made such an impact that she and Tomarken are now a pivotal element of the entire Playboy Channel.

"She's very cooperative, which is the main thing, and very ambitious, which is the second thing." says Shanks. "I give her line readings and she can feed them right back. She's quick, and she works hard, too."

After an hour of make-up. Shannon joins co-host Tomarken on the set. Shanks sings. "There she is, Miss Canada. . . ." Shannon and Tomarken exchange slightly profane greetings, then launch into On the Scene, a fast-paced taste of American sexual flavors.

The two announcers break down laughing again and again during rehearsal. Now and then, they diverge from the script and get off the track, but their ad libs are funny and effective. Tomarken is an articulate and personable actor/film maker--you may have seen him in Heaven Can Wait. He entertains the crew between shots with a remarkable repertoire of leers, twitches, eye rolls and tongue wags. But when Shanks calls for action, he and Shannon become cool, comfortable partners.

Shannon's sister Tracy, just in from Saskatoon, is 17 years old and almost as tall as her sister. She watches the show from the wings and whispers. "She likes doing this more than modeling or acting. I love to see her up there, because that's the way she really is. That's the person I know."

"She's coming along remarkably," Tomarken observes during a break. "You've got to remember that her broadcast experience is zip. Shannon has a natural comedic touch--she reminds me of Carole Lombard. Frankly. I was surprised by her. I didn't expect this Playmate to have any brains . . . but I don't have to carry her. And, of course, she's stunning."

Once they get down to serious business, it takes Shannon and Tomarken exactly ten minutes and 55 seconds to shoot the ten-minute segment.

After the taping, Shannon motors to the Mansion and pads, barefoot, back to the Library. It's dark outside now--cool but not chilly, with a trace of the ocean in the air. The room is dimly lit.

Relaxing, she is no longer the fashion model or the Playmate or the television co-host: she is the Newfoundland mink farmer's daughter who has come a long way.

"When I arrived. I had no concept, no frame of reference, for what living here would be like. It turned out to be a wonderful, supportive atmosphere. Hef's house is always full of celebrities, but they don't treat you like somebody four years removed from Saskatoon. I've even gotten compliments for my work on The Playboy Channel.

"I was always ambitious but not all that ambitious. But now I have excess money and a new car, a new location, a wonderful new job . . . it's still surprising."

She smiles, and some of the afternoon's light is still in her eyes.

"I couldn't ask for more; it really is the thrill of a lifetime."

"'Shannon has a natural comedic touch--she reminds me of Carole Lombard. Frankly, I was surprised."'