Paige Young in Los AngelesPaige Young In Art and On Merchandise. Paintings By Paige Young. Never seen before and Rare Images. Several NSFW.
Posted on December 19, 2020
Please note many images will be NSFW
I found the next 4 slides on ebay.
The seller had purchased a batch of slides through an auction.
A handful were labeled (as taken by) Peter Gowland.
I looked through the lot on Ebay and recognized Paige in a handful of the many slides of topless or naked women.
There are very few images of Paige in circulation that weren’t take by Peter and his partner, wife Alice Gowland. She did most of her modeling work with the couple or Peter alone.
I was interested only in Paige’s photos of course, but had to buy the whole lot. Now I own several slides of unknown women.
I wish I had a few non-nude-modeling images of Paige. Especially the kind taken in a natural environment by family or friends.
Gowland took several non-nude photos of Paige modeling the current fashions of the day.
Never used in US Playboy magazine.
NSFW
These are the slides of Paige that I purchased.
Location is the Gowland’s Property in Rustic Canyon?
Image #1 would be an immediate reject. In fact all of them and the whole lot are rejects and that’s how the slides got on the market, probably.
Thank you for restoring and scanning the slides to: glamourphotographers.yolasite.com
Rosler created a series of collages appropriating images of Playmates from the late 1960s. Rosler used this image of Paige from the January 1969 issue. Original image seen in chapter Playboy 1969.
A cigar is just a cigar?
Mel Ramos. Pop artist known for appropriating images of Playboy Playmates intertwined or wrapped up in, consumer objects.
Ramos’ rendition of Paige Young’s face is a spot-on likeness. Her breast size is not, it’s greatly exaggerated.
Found on internet.
The unique stone pattern of Gowland’s swimming pool was used for numerous photos in his photography instruction books over the decades.
Cover of Playboy magazine in which Paige appeared as Playmate of the month November 1968.
She did not appear on the the cover of “her” issue as some Playmates did. A Femlin touting the election instead.
Party Joke page Femlin character by LeRoy Neiman, she appeared in sculpted clay model form a few times as we see in November of 1968, election month between Hubert Humphrey and Richard Nixon. I remember in El Paso finding out at school that Nixon had won.
Playmate Puzzles
LA based author Duke Haney told me about the history of Playmate puzzles.
Playmate Puzzles-Playboy merch.
It was a series and one of them included the centerfold image of Paige Young. Look on ebay and there are several examples.
“The successful Playmate puzzle series was released periodically, in groups of 4 Playmates at a time. Paige’s group included Cynthia Myers, Gwen Wong and DeDe Lind. It was released in 70/71.”
Haney describes the lid of the Playmate puzzle.
“The mini-centerfold measures 3×6.5 and two were included with every puzzle. One was folded so that only the face of the girl was visible through the opaque cap on the can. This was so that the buyer knew which puzzle it was, which Playmate. There are four pictured on the can itself. Then there was another mini-centerfold inside the can. This one wasn’t creased like the one below the lid. These pictures were guides to be referenced while piecing together the puzzle. Only one would have been necessary but hey…”
Author Duke Haney
Haney says Playmates “never received residuals, Playboy owned the photos outright.” And that “The last of the puzzles were released in 1973, so Paige would have certainly been alive when her puzzle was released.”
Thank you Duke Haney for speaking with me, I really appreciate it!
*NOTE* All the images of Paige’s paintings that follow were publicly posted on Pinterest and/or Facebook.
The Laundress
Painting by Paige Young courtesy of Melanie Myers. Myers said that Paige “was a true artist who stretched her own canvases and mixed her own paint.”
Thank you for contacting me S.D. with this information.
Paige’s lawyer was celebrity lawyer Marvin M. Mitchelson of Beverly Hills.
Please Read corresponding chapter about him.
PETER GOWLAND’S GIRLS exhibit and book curated by Thom Schrimbock 2016. All took place in Germany.
To mark the 100th birthday of Peter Gowland ZEPHYR – Space for Photography in Mannheim & Reiss-Engelhorn Museums curated “Peter Gowland’s Girls,” the first international exhibition of his lifework. “Peter Gowland’s Girls” showcases some 200 works selected from Peter Gowland’s estate, which comprises tens of thousands of superb prints and slides, including the most sensational, most elegant and most daring pictures from his unparalleled career as a pin-up photographer. The exhibition displays his portraits of stars like Joan Collins and Jayne Mansfield, his work for “Playboy” and “Rolling Stone”, and his pictures for innumerable calendars and magazines from the 1940s to the 1970s.
from petergowlandphotography.com
Photo below is from my copy of the book.
NSFW
I do not know if it was included in the German exhibit.
Paige Young had some photo shoots published and distributed in 1970. Like the Playboy Calendar shown above. Image coming soon.
One of the Gowlands long time employers, 1964-2002, was the Ohio-based Ridge Tool Company, a hand tool manufacturing company, using the “Ridgid” brand name.
Ridgid Tool Company became famous for its’ 2-year calendars featuring images of bikini-clad models holding various tools made by Ridgid. I’m guessing Ridge sent these calendars every year to their tool purchasing clients.
Paige appears in the 69/70 edition. Cover below.
Merci Montello when this was taken by Peter Gowland. Mercy Rooney in Playboy December 1972. Merci was a favorite of Peter Gowland and she appears in several of his books and on some of his branded merchandise.
Here she is seen here partying with Mick Jagger and unidentified woman in the Chicago Playboy Mansion.
LA author Duke Haney informed me that Mercy was in town for her Playboy shoot, soon to take place at the mansion, which is Hugh Hefner’s residence.
The Chicago mansion often served as a locale for centerfold photo sessions.
Duke says that Mercy got so bruised up during the party with Jagger and the many revelers that her photo shoot needed to be postponed;
the bruising was too bad even for the makeup artists to cover passably.
This party is recounted in the book Bunny by Miller and involves Hugh Hefner’s secretary Bobbie Arnstein and Mick Jagger. It’s not a sexual encounter either.
(I have written about Bobbie in other chapters.)
Official Rolling Stones app
Lancaster New Era. April 14, 1969.
<<<<<<< I think Merci had this skill.
Mercy “Montelco” took her husband’s last name for Playboy modeling and became Mercy Rooney. She worked as a Playboy Bunny in the LA Club.
April 1
Many more models, starlets and Playboy Playmates were unnamed models in these Ridgid Tool calendars over the decades.
One did go on to great fame: Raquel Welch.
From 1964 until 2002, Peter and Alice photographed models for the Ridgid Tool Calendar (Ridge Tool Company).
Some of the models who appeared in those calendars include Stephanie Drake, Kathy McCullen, Cindy Margolis, and several Playboy Playmates, including Renee Tenison, Nikki Schieler, Barbara Moore, Heidi Sorensen and Penny Baker.
Thanks to:
Michael at glamourphotographers.yolasite.com
I will add Cyndi Wood and Debra Jo Fondren, both Playmates of the Year, appeared in Ridgid calendars shot by Peter Gowland.
NSFW
This image seated in yellow chair was used on a Playboy collectible card. Interesting mid-century chair and brown shag carpet specific to the era.
From an ebay sale several years ago. Probably a gift for special clients of Electro Chemical. There is an association with Ridgid the Tool Company who made the calendars for decades. Early 1970s.
Not identified as Paige Young. Again I recognized her looking through these photos for sale on ebay. I did a search of Peter Gowland and they photos came up.
The other model is a Gowland Favorite:Ann Cushing.
Both Paige and Ann are featured on sets of “sip and strip” glasses, none are identified by name or title of Playmate. I did not buy these I could afford one only.
What happened to Paige’s family, ex Husband, Desmond Guinness, Marvin M. Mitchelson. Updated 1/28/2025
Posted on August 26, 2020
Paige’s grandmother Virginia Young LaRocca died in August of 1976 in the Studio City Convalescent Hospital located at 11429 Ventura Blvd. Location is close to the 1950s family home at 13055 Moorpark St.
Cause of Death: Stroke per a relative on a Mormon family website. A family audio recording to a relative on a Mormon MIssion somewhere in the world. Everyone said at least a few words into the tape recorder, except for Virginia, whom they referred to as “Doing really good Today.” Virginia may have had the debilitating stroke in the early 1970s and been unaware of of her GRANDDAUGHTER Paige’s suicide in 1974.
This address is the Chase Knolls Apts in Sherman Oaks. Ironically named Huston St., not a common name.
Virginia was cremated and her ashes scattered in the ocean near the Santa Monica shoreline, just like granddaughter Paige’s ashes two years previous.
Virginia died of a stroke after one year of onset, according to her death certificate. It may have been more than a year.
Josephine’s daughter, former Warner Brothers starlet Mary Jane Harker Lanier died in 1988 in Jacksonville, Florida. Her husband Samuel Lefkovitz Lanier remarried and lived with his second wife for over 10 years until his death in 2007 at age 88, also in Florida.
The oldest child of Jane and Samuel Lanier, Samuel Harker Lanier, passed away in 2018; he was only in his 60s. A Florida lawyer, he had been disbarred due to a cocaine arrest only a few years previous.
Virginia’s sister and former Vaudeville performing and travelling partner, Josephine Young Harker, Paige Young’s great aunt, died in June of 1979 in the Jacksonville, Florida area. Public record.
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Donna Virginia LaRocca Holroyd had moved sometime in the late 60s, with mother Virginia? (had she had her stroke?) and husband Jack, to Simi Valley. Were they divorced already? Possibly as it is looking like Jack Holroyd married and divorced twice after Donna. Still need to confirm.
By 1970, Donna was the head supervisor for the Ocean View Children’s Center (5201 Squires Dr.) in Port Hueneme “for low income and welfare families…. so that the mothers (of the Valley Village neighborhood) could work or go to school.” Oxford News 1970.
Article below mentions that Donna received a degree from UCLA in Early Childhood Education.
Oxford Press Courier March 21, 1971. Her daughter Paige was probably living in Westwood or Trancas Beach by this time.
By the time of her daughter Paige’s suicide in April of 1974, Donna and Jack Holroyd were divorced. Donna was living with her mother Virginia back in Sherman Oaks. They stayed at the lovely and historic Chase Knolls Apartment Community on Huston St.
Donna’s Chase Knolls address is on Paige’s death certificate as her next of kin.
This Huston address is also on Virginia LaRocca‘s death cert. in 1976. Donna is listed as her mother’s next of kin. (See Above)
In 1980 this address appears on Donna’s own death certificate.
Donna dies of a “hypertensive arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease,” in her Chase Knolls apartment at age 59 years. Her and Jack’s son Wesley would have been about 20 years.
Donna outlives her mother by 4 years, and her daughter by 6.
Oldest daughter and Paige’s sister Constance Smashey is listed on Donna Holroyd’s death certificate as next of kin with a Simi Valley address.
Constance and Steve Smashey divorced and Connie would move to the Palm Desert area in the 1980s. She now lives in Banning, California.
She turned down my request to ask her a few questions about her sister Paige and their family.
Wesley Scott Holroyd died of alcoholism in 2014 at age 53. He was living in the San Fernando Valley where he spent most of his life.
Paige’s father Robert Morgan Cotterell and his wife Pat, moved to Oregon in the 1970s after he retired from Douglas Air. They lived there until their deaths around 2010.
Bob Cotterell’s obituary is no longer online. When it was, there was no mention of his daughters by Donna LaRocca: Diana/Paige and Constance.
It appears that Connie has reunited with her half siblings.
Richard Sample told me that Paige drove him to meet her sister one time only. He said he “didn’t get any impression” they were close.
Paige did not disclose her personal history or childhood, to anyone I’ve talked with who knew her.
Paige’s ex-husband Mark Frederick Segal married a woman named Denise in 1974. A few years later they had a son: Ivan Mark Segal.
1985/86 Mark F. Segal stayed in the car business:
Segal sold his home on Crisp Canyon Ave. to Rex Ramsey and later bought it back from him. He sold it again and moved to Portland in the late 80s? He died there on October 16, 2012.
4133 Crisp Canyon Ave. was razed and replaced with a really horrible McMansion.
His son Ivan Segal lives in Portland and Scottsdale.
Desmond Guinness married Penelope Cuthbertson in 1984.
She is his cousin according to “International Set” gossip writer Suzy Knickerbocker back in 1973. They were not couple at that time.
Desmond continued fundraising for his Irish Georgian Society well into old age. He died on August 20, 2020. I have read Desmond had some degree of dementia.
Ex-wife Mariga and co-founder of the IGS died decades earlier.
There are numerous obituaries online for Hon. Desmond Guinness.
Desmond’s niece is fashion icon and socialite Daphne Guinness. His granddaughter is popular fashion model Jasmine Guinness.
How and where Desmond became acquainted with Paige Young is a mystery. Possibly was through John and CiCi Huston in Ireland.
Desmond on his own was well connected in Los Angeles and Southern California. He had a receptive audience in the area.
In the late 1970s……..
Paige’s divorce lawyer Marvin Mitchelson gained a reputation beyond Beverly Hills and LA. He became internationally famous when he represented Michelle Triola Marvin in her lawsuit against her live-in lover of 6 years, actor Lee Marvin.
Beverly Hills Lawyer Marvin M. Mitchelson
Mitchelson introduced the term and concept of “palimony” into the courts.
Commonly known as Marvin vs. Marvin, the case received major publicity in the mass-media of the time. It’s something I personally remember as a young teenager. I call it “People magazine” famous.
I didn’t learn the back story in detail until I researched this project. I am condensing the details for this website.
Michelle Triola Marvin was a singer in Hollywood. She felt she was owed part of Lee Marvin’s $3.2 million fortune, as she had given up her own career, per his demand, to become his live-in lover, helpmate, career advisor, and even helped to raise his 4 children from first wife Betty.
Triola said Lee Marvin had promised her life-long financial support. Triola-Marvin was abruptly dumped when Lee Marvin suddenly married his high school sweetheart Pamela Feeney in 1970. Marvin kicked Triola-Marvin out of their Malibu home and cut her off financially.
Because Michelle Triola Marvin was not legally married to Lee Marvin, she had no legal standing to demand any financial compensation.
Mitchelson saw an opportunity in California’s newly enacted “no-fault” divorce laws.
Mitchelson filed a breach-of-contract suit against Lee Marvin in February of 1972 asking for 50% of his estate.
After being rejected by two lower courts, Mitchelson pushed the case to the California Supreme Court, where he won.
The Marvin vs. Marvin case finally reached trial in January of 1979 and it quickly became a mass-media event.
The judge in the case, Judge Marshall, awarded about $100,000 to Triola-Marvin, for the salary she potentially lost giving up her career as a singer.
Lee Marvin’s attorneys appealed, and the decision was reversed, leaving Triola with nothing and Mitchelson with nothing.
Mitchelson didn’t care though, because the fame the case brought him was worth millions of dollars in representing “wronged spouses,” mainly women.
The fact that in the end, Triola got nothing was not well publicized in the many media reports. It happened after the initial hoopala had died down and was never emphasized in the reporting.
Over the years, some of the women Marvin represented were celebrities like Bianca Jagger, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Joan Collins ( a reverse of his norm as Collins was the one being sued by estranged husband Peter Holm.)
Mostly though, Mitchelson took cases of non-celebrity live-in girlfriends or mistresses of rich celebrities: Sara Dylan (Bob), Anna Kashfi (Marlon Brando) Nancy Lee Andrews (Ringo Starr), Veronica Buss and Puppi Buss (girlfriends of Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss) Soraya Khashoggi, Kayatana Harrison (Flip Wilson.)
Marvin represented a few men: Mark Christian, ex-lover of Rock Hudson, in his widely publicized case against Hudson’s estate for failing to disclose his AIDS status to Christian.
Mel Torme, Carl Sagan and Sonny Bono were other clients.
Mitchelson was disbarred in 1988 for grossly overcharging clients and went to prison in 1993 for tax evasion.
Marvin Mitchelson was released from prison in 1998 and died in 2004.
Lee Marvin died in 1987 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Michelle Triola went on to have a long live-in relationship with actor- comedian Dick Van Dyke. She died of lung cancer in 2009.
Information from: Ladies’ Man: The Life & Trials of Marvin Mitchelson, by John A. Jenkins. The only published biography of Marvin Mitchelson. It’ a fascinating look at an LA character of his time, nearly forgotten today.
Paige Young in Los Angeles 