Maltese Playboy Models Were The First Twins To Be ‘Playmates Of The Month’
Despite the staunch conservatism of our island back in 1970, Maltese sisters Mary and Madeleine were the first set of twins to be chosen as Playmates of the Month.
Back then the Church had a say in just about everything, but across the pond the Sexual Revolution spurred on by the swinging sixties was gaining momentum. Hemlines were getting higher, flares were getting wider and a certain men’s lifestyle magazine was flying off the shelves.
Hugh Hefner’s Playboy magazine started at his kitchen table in Chicago in 1953 with a $1,000 loan from his mother. The magazine went on to sell over 7 million copies a month in its heyday. The very first cover girl was Hollywood star and iconic actress Marilyn Monroe who paved the way for pin-ups from Farrah Fawcett to Drew Barrymore. In 1970 however, a certain Maltese twosome shook up the shelves as the first set of twins to be Playmates of the Month. They were born in Sliema.
Mary and Madeleine Collinson moved to Britain in 1969 at the age of sixteen and were cast as the covergirls and centrefold models for the October issue of 1970 at just seventeen. Their mother had to sign a release form, but wasn’t quite sure just how much they’d be revealing!
Before Playboy they had featured in ‘Halfway Inn’, a short film where the pair starred as saucy maids. This set the tone for a career of glamour roles in films with names like ‘Groupie Girl’ and ‘The Love Machine’.
Their biggest on screen hit was ‘Twins Of Evil’, a sexy horror film where they starred alongside the late, great Peter Cushing. The film was banned in Malta because it featured religious undertones, not to mention the devilish character on the movie poster…
The twins didn’t quite reach stratospheric levels of fame but their input into the glamour and horror scene has earned them a cult following amongst film buffs and admirers the world over—and being twins didn’t hurt. Of course, they had many a fan back in Malta, and when they’d return back to “The Rock” it wasn’t uncommon for them to receive a round of applause on arrival at Malta International Airport.
They’ve earned themselves a place in the history books for being outrageously sexy in a time where the world was still coming to terms with post-war life. Hailing from Malta, we can only imagine how stifled they must have felt at a time where censorship was rife and even bikinis on the beach were banned, and what a change it must have been to go from a tiny island to rubbing shoulders with all the movers and shakers in the biz. It’s safe to say that Mary and Magdelene found their London Calling.
