Shannon Long is your basic girl next door, if next door is 12,000 miles away. She comes from the little town of Surfers Paradise, on the eastern coast of Australia, about an hour from Brisbane. The guys there are big, and loud, in a yobbo way, still calling girls sheilas and drinking their Castlemaine XXXX beer. "Don't let the ads fool you," Shannon advises. "We have regional loyalties. Foster's is the beer to drink in New South Wales. Victoria Bitter is the Melbourne brew. In Queensland, we drink 4X. If you don't, everyone gives you heat." Shannon is explaining Australia as she sits in a Chicago hotel room eating--what else?--a Vegemite sandwich. "I've had it on toast almost every day of my life. The first time I came to the United States to test for the centerfold, I didn't bring any. Never again."
Shannon attended a school where the curriculum included certain frontier essentials. "We had to raise two chickens and pluck them for our final exam. I got Mom to swap a pinched duck--a dressed chicken--I couldn't kill pets."
We asked Shannon her opinion of the "Crocodile" Dundee movies. "He got the guys right. I grew up with four brothers, listening to them exaggerate. A few ripples on the ocean became great surf, a small catch became a super fish, a scratch became a fight with a fullblown crocodile. But mostly, he got the laid-back atmosphere. You work a few months, you take off for a few months for a little adventure. It's such a young country, there's such a freshness, no one is eager to settle down into one job, one house, one life. You have to enjoy the freshness." Enjoy hers.
Playmate Data Sheet
Name: Shannon Long
Bust: 36"
Waist: 21"
Hips: 32"
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 94 lbs
Birth Date: 11th Feb, '69
Birthplace: Gladstone, Australia
Ambitions: To be happy & successful in whatever I choose to do in my life & to own my own home
Turn-Ons: Sunsets, Family get-togethers, Holding hands, Bicycle riding, Shopping, Walking in the rain
Turn-Offs: Dirty bathrooms, Physical violence, Dirty ashtrays, Slow drivers
Favorite Books: Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Favorite Movies: Witches of Eastwick, Suspect
Favorite Performers: Jack Nicholson, Bryan Perry, Cher
What I Like Best about Australia: The beaches, The laidback atmosphere & easygoing people, Aborigines, Northern new South wales. I love Australia.
What I Like Best about America: I found Americans very helpful & friendly, staying at the Playboy Mansion.
"I lived in Sydney for about nine months. I found myself stressed. If I see 100 people in a day, I feel crowded."
"Aussies don't discuss sex. If a woman talks about it, well, she's not someone you take home to Mom."
"I get homesick talking about Australia. You should see it: rain forests, rock pools, deserted beaches."
