25 Most Famous Women To Appear On Playboy's Cover

Some actresses fight to get on the cover of Playboy. Others, like Jessica Alba, take legal action to avoid appearing in its pages.

Only rarely, however, does a Playboy cover appearance hurt an actresses’ career.

Since Hugh Hefner published the first American edition of the magazine in 1953, hundreds of stars have been on the cover.

Some of the names are unsurprising (Pamela Anderson, Anna Nicole Smith), others like Barbara Streisand came as more of a surprise.

Marilyn Monroe was famously the first model on Playboy’s cover and probably the single most famous woman to appear in the magazine. But she didn’t appear in it the most.

This gallery ranks actresses by number of cover appearances over time, including international editions.

[1 cover] 2007: Mariah Carey appeared on her first (and only) Playboy cover the same year she began recording her 11th album, ‘E=MC²,’ which earned her the title of solo artist with the most No.1 singles, surpassing Elvis Presley.

[1 cover] 2009: Chelsea Handler’s first, and only, cover came out the same year she appeared on Maxim’s Hot 100. Her cover also came out shortly after her second book “Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea?” was released.

[1 cover] 1978: Dolly Parton made her single Playboy cover debut the same year her 20th album, “Heartbreaker,” was released.

[1 cover] 1977: Barbra Streisand appeared for the first and only time shortly after her song ‘Evergreen’ won the artist her second Oscar.

[2 covers] 1984 : Suzanne Somers has appeared on two covers, once in France and once in the US. Her December 1984 American cover shot was released in between her last episode on “Three’s Company” and her being named Las Vegas’ Entertainer of the Year.

[ 2 covers] 2006: Jessica Alba has appeared on both the Japanese and American covers of Playboy one time. This American cover shot was also her promotional image for 2005 film “Into the Blue.” Alba sued over the issue, saying it was used without her consent. The lawsuit was dropped after Hugh Hefner agreed to donate to charities of the actress’ choice.

[2 covers] 2005: Paris Hilton has appeared on both the Slovakian and American covers once. Her 2005 American cover shot coincided with her first major fim appearance in “House of Wax,” as well as the release of her second book “Your Heiress Diary: Confess It All To Me.”

[3 covers] 1985: Goldie Hawn has appeared on the cover of Playboy in France, Mexico, and the US. Her American cover shot was released around the same time as “Protocol,” for which she both acted in and served as executive producer.

[3 covers] 1999: Charlize Theron has appeared on covers in both Japan and the US three times total. Her 1999 American cover shot came out around the time she was nominated for a Screen Actor’s Guild Award for her role in “The Cider House Rules.”