MARGUERITE EMPEY

Marguerite Diane Empey was born July 29, 1932, at Hollywood Hospital in Hollywood, Ca. Her father, Arthur Guy Empey, was a WWI veteran, book author, screen writer and song lyricist. Her mother Marguerite (nee Andrus) was a Hollywood starlet and former Miss Long Beach, Ca. [1]

Guy Empey filed for divorce in 1934 when his daughter was two. Guy referred to his wife as a "dumbbell". [2] She called him "too old, fat and lazy". [3] The divorce wasn't finalized until 1938 when Diane was six. [4] Marguerite got the house and custody of the "minor child".

Raised a Catholic, Diane's first communion came in 1939. She chose her confirmation name, Theresa, becoming Marguerite Diane Theresa Empey.

Even at this young age, Diane loved to read and her artistic talents were evident in her drawings and paintings. She also loved horses and hoped to own one someday.

At the age of ten, Diane saw her first ballet, "The Nutcracker Suite". She immediately decided she wanted to be a ballerina and began taking lessons from Russian ballerina Maria Bekefi.

The ballet training was put to good use when Diane attended Hollywood High School. She participated in theater productions as a dancer and choreographer. After school, she worked as an usherette at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. At the age of 16 she was approached by a photographer after her ballet class and asked to pose. She agreed to some demure photos in her toe shoes. [5]

[5]

Diane often made her own bathing suits

When Diane graduated from Hollywood High School at eighteen, she moved into the Hollywood Studio Club, a YWCA sponsored hotel for aspiring actresses, singers and dancers. At the urging of a roommate, she auditioned for a job with the Dorothy Dorbin Dancers. At 5' 2" Diane was too short to be principal dancer, but she was hired to be in the pony line at Bimbo's in San Francisco.

During her time in San Francisco, Diane was asked to model at an art class at the University of California at Berkeley. She accepted the flattering invitation. On one of her trips to visit Los Angeles, she used her new found confidence and contacted a professional photographer to take some photos. With her poise, grace and perfect proportions she was a natural model.

At twenty, Diane returned to Los Angeles to pursue her career. She worked many temporary jobs including as a receptionist at KHJ-TV and a tabulator at a bank clearing house. Joe Webber was her supervisor and soon they started dating.

Diane's modeling career continued to blossom. With her natural appeal, she was featured in many art and photography magazines of the early 1950's. Because of her desire not to have tan lines with her modeling career and since Diane and Joe were both interested in a more natural life style, the two joined a social club that visited local Naturist or Nudist camps. Ed Lange. a publisher of sunbathing magazines in Southern California, recognized Diane's potential to make sunbathing more attractive to the general public. He featured her photos in numerous nudist magazines.

By 1954 Diane, credited as Marguerite Empey, was a top nude model. One of the photographers who hired her was Hal Adams. After Hugh Hefner published the first issue of Playboy in December 1953, with the "Red Velvet" portrait of Marilyn Monroe as the centerfold, many photographers, including Hal Adams, submitted their work for consideration. Diane was chosen as Miss May 1955 although this was before centerfolds were identified.