Neva Gilbert

{{Infobox Playboy Playmate

| name = Neva Gilbert

| image =

| issue = July 1954

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1929|9|1|mf=y}}

| birth_place = New York City, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2022|11|12|1929|9|1|mf=y}}

| death_place = Lake Worth, Florida, U.S.

| height = {{height|ft=5|in=6}}

| preceded = Margie Harrison

| succeeded = Arline Hunter

| website =

}}

Neva A. Gilbert (September 1, 1929 – November 12, 2022) was an American model. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its July 1954 issue.{{cite web|url=http://wekinglypigs.com/cgi-bin/nand/search/pmstat?browse=%3A%3ACONFIG%3A%3Amodelbrowse&key=gilbert%2C+neva&limit=0|title=Playmate data|access-date=December 19, 2010}}

Early life

Gilbert was born in New York City and started work at Sears and Roebuck by lying about her age in order to be eligible. She was married at age 16 and divorced within a few years.

Career

After moving to California Gilbert began modeling, and her acting roles included working with Marilyn Monroe. When Playboy was launched, it did not commission its own photo sessions. Gilbert's photos were actually taken by a private photographer, Tom Kelley, the same photographer who photographed Monroe{{Cite news |last=Kleiner |first=Dick |date=1979-12-06 |title=Show World Spotlight |pages=38 |work=The Times-Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103612808/show-world-spotlight/ |access-date=2022-06-12}} and who sold Gilbert's photos to the Baumgarth Calendar Company.{{Cite news |last=Lennon |first=Troy |date=9 December 2015 |title=Sting in the bunny tail for Playboy's earliest nudes |pages=60 |work=The Daily Telegraph; Surry Hills, N.S.W. [Surry Hills, N.S.W]}} Hugh Hefner bought her photos, (along with the photos of many other models), and, unbeknownst to Gilbert, published them. Gilbert was the seventh playmate in the first year playmates appeared in Playboy magazine.{{Cite news |last=Aydlette |first=Larry |date=2017-02-05 |title=Lake Worth woman named oldest Playmate |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103612377/lake-worth-woman-named-oldest-playmate/],[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103612411/] |work=The Palm Beach Post |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103612377/lake-worth-woman-named-oldest-playmate/ |access-date=2022-06-12}}

According to Gilbert,{{Quote |text=In those days, I was an aspiring actress. I'd go on assignments with Marilyn Monroe. We did some calendar shots for a photographer named Tom Kelley. A few months later, I heard the pictures had appeared in a new magazine called Playboy, but I couldn't find a copy. I didn't see my centerfold until this year.|author=Neva Gilbert |source=Playboy, December 1979}}

Gilbert had small parts in two films: Combat Squad (1953){{cite book|last=Edwards|first=Paul M.|title=A Guide to Films on the Korean War|url={{Google books|LMPCWnRfz4sC|page=63|plainurl=yes}}|year=1997|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0313303166|page=63}} and The Country Girl (1954).{{Cite book |last=Parish |first=James Robert |url=http://archive.org/details/allamericans00pari |title=The all-Americans |last2=Stanke |first2=Don E. |last3=Pitts |first3=Michael R. |date=1977 |publisher=New Rochelle, N.Y. : Arlington House |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-87000-363-9 |pages=189}} She also appeared in various off-Broadway and college theatre productions, especially the plays of Tennessee Williams. Decades later, she returned to Playboy and posed semi-nude for a feature called, "Playmates Forever!", in the December 1979 issue.{{cite news |url=http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/lifestyles/accent-oldest-playboy-playmate-mypbp/qh33paKxuyPPEHy3dRNmrI/ |title=Lake Worth's Neva Gilbert recalls her "lucky" life as one of Playboy magazine's original Playmates |first=Larry |last=Aydlette |newspaper=The Palm Beach Post |date=December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219130739/http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/lifestyles/accent-oldest-playboy-playmate-mypbp/qh33paKxuyPPEHy3dRNmrI/ |archive-date=December 19, 2016}}

Later life and death

By 2017 Gilbert was the oldest Playmate, and told an ABC News reporter that she was still looking for work.{{Cite web |last=Burbank |first=Whitney |date=2017-02-02 |title=Local former Playboy centerfold relives past |url=https://www.wpbf.com/article/local-former-playboy-centerfold-relives-past/8665300 |access-date=2022-06-13 |website=WPBF |language=en}}

Gilbert died in Lake Worth, Florida on November 12, 2022, at the age of 93.{{cite web |title=Neva A. Gilbert |url=https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/26486612/neva-a-gilbert |website=Tribute Archive |access-date=15 December 2022}}