Barbara Lynn Klein was born on 28 January 1950, in New York City, USA into a Jewish family, and is a singer, actress, and model, best known for being a part of “Playboy” and “Playboy After Dark”. She has also played parts in several television shows such as “Fantasy Island” and “Sugar Time!” All of her endeavors have helped put her net worth to where it is today.
How rich is Barbi Benton? As of mid-2016, sources inform us of a net worth that is at $20 million, mostly earned through modelling and acting. She has also had a successful music career, releasing numerous country singles. She’s been featured in various Playboy Magazine issues, and all of these activities have ensured the position of her wealth.
Barbi Benton Net Worth $20 million
Benton moved to California with her family when she was very young, and attended Rio American High School in Sacramento to the age of 16, when she decided to pursue modelling. She attended UCLA and then became part of Playboy when she was 18 years old. She was part of the “Playboy After Dark” entertainment show as the co-host with Hugh Hefner. Hefner would then ask her on a date and the two would have a relationship that would last for several years. Hefner also suggested that she change her name from Barbara Klein to Barbi Benton.
She appeared on the cover of Playboy Magazine four times from 1969 to 1985, and also had nude photo layouts for two shoots in December 1973 and January 1975. Interestingly, despite her numerous features she was never made a Playmate of the Month. She became a part of the show “Hee Haw” and then started to pursue acting. She was a regular on “Hee Haw” mostly appearing in comic sketches, which helped her net worth.
She also started her career as a country singer, but after four years decided to go for more Hollywood level roles. After appearing in a few B movies, she became part of popular television shows including “The Love Boat” and “Fantasy Island”. She was also cast in “Sugar Time!” and “Hospital Massacre”, and other projects she’s been a part of include “Hugh Hefner: Once Upon a Time” and “Deathstalker”. Aside from that, Benton was also responsible for finding the location of the Playboy Mansion where she lived during her relationship with Hefner.
For her music career, she released the song “Brass Buckles” in 1975, which reached fifth spot of the Billboard’s country singles chart.
Prior to focusing on a music career, it is known that she released a few songs for Playboy Records. She recorded a total of eight albums, and personally produced her last album. She plays the piano, and also composed most of her songs. Barbi has recently focused her efforts on interior decorating.
For her personal life, it is known that Barbi dated Hugh Hefner from 1968 to 1976 and even after the relationship ended, the two remained close friends. She married George Gradow in 1979 and they have two children. They spend a lot of time either in Los Angeles or Aspen. Aside from that, Gradow was sentenced to 15 months in prison during 2006 found guilty of tax fraud.
