Julie McCullough

Julie McCullough has always had a gift for causing a delicious scandal. Born on 30 January 1965 in Honolulu, Hawaii, of Irish descent, she grew up mostly in Texas, where her blonde hair, bright smile and natural curves caught the attention of a Playboy photographer. The magazine liked what it saw, and Julie became one of the most memorable faces of the mid-eighties.

She first appeared in Playboy in February 1985, on the cover of the "Girls of Texas" issue, a fitting introduction for a woman who embodied Lone Star glamour. A year later, in February 1986, she was named Playmate of the Month, and in September 1986 she was back on the cover again, this time for the "Farmer's Daughters" pictorial, a role she was born to play.

Julie's photos are a time capsule of eighties sensuality: big hair, glowing skin, playful country-girl poses and a smile that makes you forgive every cliché. She has a natural, curvy figure and a cheeky sense of humour that shines through even in her most revealing shots. She does not just pose naked; she flirts with you.

Her centrefold caused trouble in the best possible way. In 1989 she was chosen as Azalea Queen for the North Carolina Azalea Festival, only to be stripped of the crown because of her Playboy past, a story that made headlines and only made fans love her more. Hollywood was less prudish: she joined the hit sitcom Growing Pains as the nanny Julie Costello and appeared in films such as The Blob and, decades later, the cult disaster comedy Sharknado.

Julie later reinvented herself as a stand-up comedian and popped up on The Girls Next Door, still as funny and as fearless as ever. This gallery celebrates the eighties pin-up who refused to apologise for being sexy, and why should she?

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