In Memory of.........................

[Rick Danger]

Just found out that D'Andrea Bryant passed on December 20, 2008:

Originally Posted by www.dandreadoes.com

As you may know by now, our dearly beloved D’Andrea passed away in her sleep right before Christmas 2008. In recent years she had severe health problems. D’Andrea Does.Com is still the Official D’Andrea Bryant Web Site. As such it’s devoted to cherishing her memory and sharing her legacy with the world.

[lonewolf3898]

Just in from Hef's Twiitter account:

"I'm saddened to learn of the passing of Playmate Pamela Bryant, Miss April, 1978, on Saturday in Hawaii, from natural causes."

She was 51.

[VallesMarineris]

Originally Posted by lonewolf3898

Just in from Hef's Twiitter account:

"I'm saddened to learn of the passing of Playmate Pamela Bryant, Miss April, 1978, on Saturday in Hawaii, from natural causes."

She was 51.

way too young. i remember that April 1978 issue like it was yesterday.
i was really going to hurt myself staring at her pictures for hours, days, months.
this is crazy to hear that she died.

[azurespring]

A website that tracks such things has reported that Pamela Jean Bryant died on December 3, 2010. She was 51. No cause of death or other information is given. I now see that someone has already posted this sad news.

PJB and my sister-in-law were acquaintances at Indiana University.

http://www.whosaliveandwhosdead.com/l_pmom.asp?sort=dod

[azurespring]

Fran Gerard died on May 30, 1985, at age 37.

http://www.whosaliveandwhosdead.com/...asp?n=gerardfr

[thedude65]

Originally Posted by azurespring

Fran Gerard died on May 30, 1985, at age 37.

http://www.whosaliveandwhosdead.com/...asp?n=gerardfr

Wow, I've never heard of that. Is there any other reference to her being passed on?

[azurespring]

It is indeed odd that it took a quarter century for Fran Gerard's death to become generally known.

The "who's alive" notice says that Fran Gerard was the first PB model to wear prescription eyeglasses in her centerfold photo. I guess she was the first to wear glasses, but to me those lenses look completely clear--like the eyeglasses George Reeves wore as Clark Kent--not prescription.

[thedude65]

Update: I did some research and am pretty sure she did pass on. In a way its good to know who she was yet sad to know she's been gone for all this time. Here is what I believe to be the original post from another group that confirms it. All credit to the original poster/ researcher:


Last month I spotted a website that suggested Fran Gerard attended Granada Hills
High School near Los Angeles. Acting on a hunch, I managed to locate a copy of
the 1966 Granada Hills High School yearbook. I wanted to see if Fran was among
the Class of 1966, in which case she would be 18 years old if the March 23, 1948
birthdate her Playmate bio stated was accurate.

To my astonishment, I quickly found her picture, on page 23 of the yearbook in
the Seniors class pictures section. Alas, it is the only picture of her in the
entire yearbook that I have been able to spot. It is possible that pictures of
her as an underclassman may exist in previous years/yearbooks, but her senior
year, there is just once picture, which I am posting here in the Photos section.

There on page 23, she is shown as "Frances Camuglia, Homemaker". It is
unmistakeably our Fran.

From there, the story takes a sad turn.

Who was "Fran Gerard"?

I did some research at ancestry.com and found a lot of details that fill in some
pieces of vital information about her birth, her family, her marriages (there
were 2 husbands), and her death.

She was born Frances Anna Camuglia, on March 23, 1948 in New York, presumably
Staten Island according to her Playmate bio. There is one conflicting birth date
at ancestry.com that says her birth date was March 24, 1948, so there's a small
conflict there. Her mother's maiden name was Derosa. I'm unable to confirm
mother or father's full names, though ancestry.com says both are still living.

Ancestry.com also says that Fran had 1 brother and 2 sisters, and all are still
living. The website does not reveal their names.

Fran was first married to a Jack L. Cavender on May 7, 1966. He was born in
1929, so he would have been 37 years old when they married, and she just 18. In
addition, that marriage date almost certainly occurred before her high school
graduation. We can use our imagination to wonder why an 18 year old girl marries
a man twice her age while she is still in high school...but we can't confirm any
particular reason why that occurred. One thing it apparently was not: according
to ancestry.com, Fran never had any children.

Another interesting fact: Fran and Jack Cavender divorced just 7 months after
they were married, in January 1967, in Los Angeles. Their divorce was a "Type 2"
cause, though I'm unable to determine exactly what that meant in 1967 (i.e.,
"extreme cruelty", "irreconcilable differences", or something similar). The
State File is #002666, the Dissolution File is #702684.

Who was Jack L. Cavender? I'm not finding much information, but it is possible
he was Jack Lee Cavender, born in Ohio on May 27, 1929, and died in Los Angeles
on March 6, 1983....though I have no confirmation that "Jack L." and "Jack Lee"
are the same person.

Another question about Jack L. Cavender: is it possible he is the astrologist
"Jack Gemini" who "employed" Fran as his assistant, as related in her Playmate
story in March 1967?

Fran married again, on August 17, 1970 in Las Vegas in a religious ceremony, to
M_______ A___ Rey of New Mexico. (The date of recording in the Las
Vegas/Clark County records is Sept. 24, 1970)

I did not see a divorce filing for Mr. Rey and Fran, so I presume they were
married until her death, though I don't know that as a fact.

The last details are the saddest: Fran died on May 30, 1985 in Fountain Valley,
California. I'm unable to locate a death certificate on-line, so the cause of
death is unknown to me, but 38 years old is much to young to leave this earth,
regardless of the reason.

I was so very excited today when I found Fran's senior class picture. 8 hours
later, after my findings on ancestry.com, I feel very differently, very sad. She
was such a beautiful woman. I hope she had a happy life. What few details we now
know suggest that she may not have had the kind of happy life we'd have wished
for her, but I still maintain some hope that Fran found peace and happiness
after her Playboy days were done.

Goodbye Fran, and rest in peace.

[stevep59]

Sad to see so many names here. Other than Mayfair in the 80's I never really went for the top shelf stuff, mainly growing up with the page 3 girls [not literally unfortunately ] so a lot of the American names mean nothing to me but especially bad when so many die so young. A good tribute to their passing here.

Steve

[effyja2004]

Originally Posted by marxz

She died on November 1, 2008, at the age of 35. The cause of her death was not reported.

RIP beautiful one. what a shame.

I was not aware she had died until I joined up here. One of my favs from teh early 90's, and her gymnast clip from her PM video was one of my favorites of all time. RIP.

And I echo earlier sentiments about this thread. A great idea, even if it is a sad thread. These girls deserved to be remembered and honored.