Julie McCollough, Miss February, 1986

I've always felt that I have little eyes, a mouth full of teeth and ears that I call elf ears. They kind of poke out." That's her opinion. We certainly didn't notice any flaws when Julie McCullough showed up for our salute to The Girls of Texas last February. In fact, we tucked her ears under a Stetson and put her on the cover. It was the first time she'd ever seen a copy of Playboy. Although she was born in Hawaii, Julie was then, and is now, living in Texas. But as the daughter of a Marine Corps lifer, she has moved around a lot. "It bothered me when I was younger; but as I look back, I appreciate it, because it taught me how to get along with different types of people. If you make good friends, you never lose them." During most of her childhood years, Julie thought she wanted to be an artist. "I really love to draw," she says, "but I could never see myself as a starving artist. So I realized art would have to be more of a hobby than a career. And then, in high school, I started entering pageants, and I got (text concluded on page 174) Cover Girl (continued from page 92) a couple of Miss Photogenic awards. And everbody would tell me, 'You should try modeling; you should try modeling.' And all of a sudden, it's like, 'Hey!' "

Playboy's cover picture, and the less covered picture inside the magazine, caused a furor in Julie's home town of Allen, a rural community 26 miles north of Dallas. A local paster, announcing that he planned to preach a sermon on the subject, was quoted as saying--we kid you not--"The easiest thing to do is jump on Julie." He went on to say that he saw her appearance in Playboy as part of a larger problem, that of "general moral disintegration in the fiber of the nation."

Fortunately, Julie's family took a cooler view. "I think it's the best publicity she could get," her stepdad told reporters.

So now it appears that Miss McCullough has the modeling bug. After all, a cover is the professional model's dream, and she had hit the jackpot her first time out. "That's what I want," Julie admits. "I want more covers. I want covers of other magazines as well."

Although modeling is hard work, Julie has found that it has fringe benefits--such as the trip to take as part of a Playboy pictorial shoot. You'll see the results in next month's issue.

Does Julie look forward to a high-powered career? "Success, to me, is being happy at what I do," she says. "It's important to me to be able to achieve something on my own. I don't necessarily have to be rich. All through high school, I worked as a grocery-store checker. I liked knowing that whatever money I had, I earned. I still do, I don't like people giving me things."

It's hard to imagine how Julie could avoid being given things. Long, hared stares, for instance. Or a yellow Lamborghinio. But she's caustious in her affairs and definite about her standards.

"I want an open and honest relation ship with a partner who wants just as much our of life as I do, If he doesn't, we'll have nothing in common. I don't want a partner who has no enthusiasm fro his career or anything else."

Such alliances are usually made with serious futures in mind, but balloon mortgages and the prospect fo years of paying for orthodontia don't scare Julie one bit.

"Yeah. I want a few kids," she says wistfully. "I've always been real family whose house everybody will come to for christmas. That's the way my grandma's house is now, and I want to be just like her." If Grandma's like you, Julie, introduce us.

Playmate Data Sheet

Name: Julie Michelle McCullough

Bust: 36

Waist: 24

Hips: 35

Height: 5'7"

Weight: 115

Birth Date: 1/30/65

Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii

What's Your Most Dangerous Secret? Although I enjoy water sports, I can't swim

What's the Most Boring Date You Can Imagine? A blind date; they usually brag too much or don't talk at all

What Performers Do You Admire? Johnny Carson, Sally Field, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie

What's Your Ideal Man? Someone with lots of love to share, hard-working (No matter the career choice)

What School Courses Would You Like to Take Over? French, Drama, Typing

What's Your Biggest Flaw? Wasting too much time

What's the Best Job in the World? an actor/actress -- because you can be anything you want to be -- or at least "act" like it.