Alice Denham, a prolific author of three books, has contributed articles to renowned publications such as Cosmopolitan, The Nation, New York Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, Publishers Weekly, The Village Voice and The Washingtonian. She resides in both New York City and San Miguel, Mexico.
In Denham’s risqué memoir, she offers an unfiltered account of a period when male authors were idolized and a stunningly beautiful aspiring female novelist sought recognition—and occasionally more. Among those entangled in her narrative are James Dean, Norman Mailer, Hugh Hefner, Philip Roth, and William Gaddis. Denham’s story heats up with each page as she, the only Playboy Playmate to have her literary work featured in the same issue as her centerfold, pursues her ambition of becoming an author amidst the sexually charged atmosphere of 1950s Greenwich Village in New York City.
Alice Denham, an author and former Playboy model who vividly documented her literary and intimate encounters in her 2006 memoir, “Sleeping With Bad Boys: A Juicy Tell-All of Literary New York in the Fifties and Sixties,” passed away on Jan. 27 at her Manhattan residence. She was 89 years old.
Her husband, John Mueller, stated that her death was due to complications arising from ovarian cancer.
Arriving in New York in the early 1950s, fresh from the University of Rochester, Ms. Denham had two major objectives: to achieve literary renown and to experience romance. The city seemed to offer ample opportunities for both. In her memoir, she compared the New York of the 1950s to Paris in the 1920s.
Her breathtaking beauty and quick wit made it easy for her to enter Manhattan’s literary circles, and she was certainly not overlooked by numerous editors, publishers, film producers, actors, and authors – many of whom pursued her, with quite a few succeeding.
“Manhattan was a stream of men flowing past my doorstep, and I quenched my thirst when needed,” she penned down.
Among her conquests, she claimed, were actor James Dean, who was a close friend until he fell deeply in love with Italian actress Pier Angeli; writers James Jones, William Gaddis, Evan S. Connell, and Philip Roth; and Hugh Hefner, whom she cleverly persuaded to feature her as a centerfold and include her debut short story as part of the deal.
“He wasn’t exactly an advocate for equality,” penned Ms. Denham. “However, he exhibited one of the more admirable male qualities I recognized: He appreciated my written work.”
Among her extensive circle of friends were notable figures such as Norman Mailer, Joseph Heller, Gore Vidal and the artist Ad Reinhardt. “Being a proper Southern lady, I was raised to be proficient in dealing with men,” she noted. “And indeed, I was.”
Born on January 21, 1927, in Jacksonville, Florida, Alice Denham was the daughter of a stockbroker who lost all his wealth in the Wall Street crash. The family relocated to Coral Gables, Florida, where her father found employment as a property manager for a large firm. In 1940, he secured a job with the Federal Housing Administration, prompting a move to the Washington suburb of Chevy Chase, Maryland.
