Joanne Latham

Joanne Kandy Latham (born in Wolverhampton) is a former English glamour model. Her statistics were quoted as 36-23-36.

After studying classical ballet for nine years she took a scholarship to the Royal Ballet School. A dancing competition led to a request for her to model for Miss Selfridge. This consequently drew her into the world of modeling and television commercials where she became an instant success. She appeared on Page 3 of the Sun newspaper and in the Daily Mirror and built a huge following as a glamour model. In 1978 Central Television made a documentary about her called 'A Model's Dream' in the series 'England, Their England'. After a shoot with leading glamour photographer Patrick Lichfield, he was so impressed with her that he included her photo on the inside front cover of his book "The Most Beautiful Women", a collection of his photographs.

In 1979, the two major Men's magazines, Playboy and Penthouse, fought a very publicized battle over her for the first nude pictures. Latham signed a contract with Bob Guccione and Penthouse which promised a fee of £70,000 for her to appear in the 10th Anniversary edition. Latham adorned nineteen pages of the magazine. That edition made U.S. history, selling more in Dollar percentage than any other magazine to date and making a profit of $18 million. After a brief affair with Guccione Latham's contract was terminated with Penthouse Magazine when she fell in love with the Guccione's son.^[1] She moved from New York to Los Angeles and briefly became the girlfriend of Hugh Hefner living in the Playboy Mansion. In the early Eighties Latham returned to England to her Midland home in the village of Tettenhall.

Latham was featured on the cover of Death Penalty, the debut album by NWOBHM band Witchfinder General. It was released in 1982 on Heavy Metal Records. She also featured on the cover of Friends of Hell, their second album released in 1983.^[2]

In 1982, Latham was involved in a serious car accident after which she gave up modeling to open the first 'workout' keep fit studio in the UK. Her daughter, Elizablue Nairi, was born in Southern Spain in June 1985.

Latham was allegedly admired and courted by a member of the Royal Family and was a close acquaintance of a President of the United States. She was also romantically linked with Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis, Vitas Gerulaitis, Ryan O'Neal and George Peppard. .

In later years, she studied drama at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, working under a director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and went on to play the lead role in a government funded film for the Arts.

In 1999, Latham became a teacher of Yoga training at the Sivananda Yoga Vendanta Centre in Nassau, Bahamas. Since then, she has continued working in the healing arts. Despite several offers, she has refused to write her biography. She has set up her own charity with her daughter 'Blue' who is also a teacher of Yoga and is studying to be a Doctor of Ayurvedic medicine.

References

1. ↑ Agent Triple P. "Venus Observations". venusobservations.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 5 March 2015. 
2. ↑ "Joanne Latham". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 March 2015.