Playboy had many cover models over the years, but none were as indelibly linked to the magazine as Pamela Anderson.
The 50-year-old B.C.-born actress and activist was on the cover of the publication a record-breaking 14 times, including as star of its last nude issue for the January/February 2016 copy, before the mag decided to go back to publishing nude women with its March/April 2017 issue.
Now, in the wake of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's death at 91, Anderson took to social media to express her grief, and it's really nothing short of heartbreaking.
Accompanying a black-and-white video during which she wipes away tears and whispers, "Goodbye Hef," the "Baywatch" star writes of the immense bond she had with the icon, thanking him in full for giving her a career.
"I am me because of you
You taught me everything important about freedom and respect.
Outside of my family ...
Everything anyone loves about me is because you understood me.
Accepted me
and encouraged me to be myself."
Anderson rose to fame as one of Labatt's Blue Zone Girls, after being spotted on the big screen at a B.C. Lions game.
Her history with Playboy started in 1989, when she posed as a cover model, eventually being named Playmate of the Year in 1990.
She made a memorable appearance at his 82nd birthday that was featured on "E! The Girls At Playboy Mansion," stripping naked and offering him a cake blazing with candles, to which he responded, "Don't burn yourself!"
While some fans called the sensual video "strange" and asked if it was "really the time for a striptease," as she writes, Hefner told her, "Be brave. There are no rules. Live your life." If this is how she chooses to do it, he would undoubtedly appreciate the tribute.
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