Lisa Matthews

Lisa Matthews is Midwestern sunshine in human form. Born Lisa Reich on 24 September 1969 in Peoria, Illinois, a city so famously ordinary that the phrase "Will it play in Peoria?" became shorthand for American taste, she grew up to be anything but ordinary: a blonde with brown eyes, a beaming smile and a full, feminine figure that seemed custom-made for a centrefold.

Playboy introduced her as Playmate of the Month in April 1990, and the readers' answer to that famous question was a resounding yes. Lisa played in Peoria, and everywhere else too. Her centrefold was so popular that in 1991 she was crowned Playmate of the Year, winning a prize package worth more than $100,000 and a place among the magazine's legends.

Her photos have that classic, wholesome-but-wicked appeal that defined early-nineties Playboy. Lisa poses with an open, friendly warmth that makes you feel like she is genuinely glad you are there, and then she lets her clothes fall away with a confidence that is anything but shy. Her curves are soft and generous, her skin glows, and she has the rare ability to look sweet and sinful in the very same frame.

The Playmate of the Year title opened doors in Hollywood, and in 1991 she appeared alongside Bruce Willis in the action comedy Hudson Hawk. But it is her Playboy work that fans remember most fondly, and for very good reason, from her centrefold to her many appearances in videos and special editions.

Lisa proved her timeless appeal in May 2017, when at 47 she joined fellow Playmates to recreate her famous Playmate of the Year cover, looking as stunning as ever. This gallery takes you back to the original pictures that won her the crown: the girl from Peoria who became Playboy royalty, glowing, curvy and wonderfully unashamed.

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