Linda Vargas didn't have the most successful career as
a glamour girl, nor is she remembered except by the most ardent Femme
Fatale
fan, but she was one of those rare models who had that spark
that made her pictures come alive. Like her namesake, Linda Vargas
typified those youthful and energetic models that the famous pin-up artist
Alberto
Vargas used as his inspiration. (As far as I can tell, there was
no relation between the two.) Linda Vargas, as happened with
most models in the glamour era, was compared to already famous actresses/models.
In this case the comparison was to Ava Gardner, even though
that seems like a bit of a stretch. Vargas, with her dark
exotic features, stood out from the bevy of blonde bombshells that dominated
the pin-up world of the 40's, 50's, and 60's. Vargas
started
modeling when she was 15, was the cover model and centerfold in the December
1957 issue of Playboy, and was pretty much done with modeling by the mid
1960's. She was one of the many models that photographer Peter Gowland
used in his how-to books (which were just cheesecake books dressed up like
art instructionals).
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