Jean Jani (sometimes listed as Norma Jean Jani) was one of Playboy's early centerfolds, appearing in the July 1957 issue of the magazine. This Ohio-born beauty was portrayed as a sexy stewardess for United Airlines in the pages of Playboy, but in actuality she was a reservations clerk. Regardless, her appearance in Playboy cost her her job. She went on to do more modeling with photographers such as Peter Gowland (who took her Playboy photos) and Ron Vogel.
     Jani appeared in several issues of Adam and Modern Man as well as other titles in the late 50's and early 60's. She was also responsible for the jaw-dropping cover of Adam Bedside Reader #2 where she is wearing nothing but a red ribbon. This was a gal who was not afraid to show off her assets. Jani packed a lot into her five foot three frame busting the measuring tape with an amazing 38-23-34 figure. She was one of several models who bridged the gap between the bosom-obsessed girlie-magazine crowd of the late 50's and the Tit Queen obsession of the 1960's. (There is a fine bit of distinction here. 1950's pin-up gals were curvy and posed in the classic nudie-cutie style; definitely the girl-next-door type. The 60's, with the rise of the sexual revolution, was all about raw sexuality and the move to more overt fetishism.)
     If being a brunette knockout wasn't enough for her, every so often Jani would put on a blonde wig and do photo shoots under the name Joan Brennan. She retired from modeling in the mid-1960's in favor of a more domesticated existence. According to The Playmate Book, Jani forgot about her Playboy experience until her grown daughter gave her a copy in recent years. She has since embraced her pin-up past and become involved in the convention circuit.