Rosanne Katon

Born: 1954-02-05

Rosanne Katon is an American model, actress, comedian and activist. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its September 1978 issue. Her centerfold was photographed by Mario Casilli. Katon was born in New York City to a Jamaican-born father and an African-American mother. Beginning in the mid-1970s, Katon worked steadily in Hollywood, including a stint on Grady, the short-lived spin-off of the hit situation comedy Sanford and Son that starred Whitman Mayo in the title role, and guest appearances on Jason of Star Command, What's Happening!!, Good Times and That's My Mama, which starred Clifton Davis. She then had leading roles in two Cirio Santiago action films, both released in 1976, Ebony, Ivory & Jade, in which she received top billing, and The Muthers, in which she acted alongside former Playboy centerfold Jean Bell. However, the shapely actress was often typecast in sex kitten roles in R-Rated comedies such as The Swinging Cheerleaders (1974), Chesty Anderson, U.S. Navy (1976), American Raspberry (1976), Lunch Wagon (1981), Zapped! (1982) and Bachelor Party (1984). This was solidified by her appearance as the September 1978 Playboy centerfold. She had a recurring role opposite Denzel Washington on the medical drama St. Elsewhere and her appearance in two award-winning UCLA student films, Julie Dash's "Illusions," released in 1982, in which she portrayed a singer doubling for a white actress in 1940s Hollywood (whether she did her own singing in the role was not known as of mid December 2012), and S. Torriano Berry's "Rich," in which she portrays the title character's supportive girlfriend. Her other film credits included the TV movie The Night They Took Miss Beautiful (1977), the cult horror film Motel Hell (1980), Body and Soul (1981), City Girl (1984) and Harem (1985), opposite Nastassja Kinski and Ben Kingsley. Katon was selected as Miss Golden Globes for the 1981 awards show. The honor and the task of presenting the statuettes during the ceremony goes to an up-and-coming actress. Katon was the first African American to be selected, since the custom started in 1962. Additionally, Katon has had several stage credits, including a Broadway lead role in Godspell and a featured role in the parody of women in prison movies, Women Behind Bars. At one point, Katon segued into the world of stand-up comedy, and during that period in her career, she appeared in the June 1991 Playboy pictorial "Funny Girls," which covered female comedians.


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Bachelor Party

as Bridal Shower Hooker
Released: 1984-06-29

On the eve of his wedding to his longtime girlfriend, unassuming nice guy Rick is dragged out...

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Zapped!

as Donna
Released: 1982-07-23

Peyton and Barney are fun loving high school students working on a science project with white...

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Motel Hell

as Suzi
Released: 1980-08-14

Farmer Vincent Smith and his sister Ida run a motel attached to a farm where they capture...

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The Swinging Cheerleaders

as Lisa
Released: 1974-09-25

In order to write an expose on how cheerleading demeans women, a reporter for a college...

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The Muthers

as Angie
Released: 1976-11-01

A band of female pirates go undercover at a prison camp on a coffee plantation to rescue their...

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Body and Soul

as Melody
Released: 1981-10-09

A young man struggles to become a boxing champ, but success blinds him. It is only through the...

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Harem

as Judy
Released: 1985-11-06

Diane is a sophisticated trainee on the New York Stock Exchange who is suddenly kidnapped and...

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Lunch Wagon

as Shannon
Released: 1981-09-01

Three women start a lunch wagon business but run into stiff resistance from a competitor.

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The Comeback Kid

as Girl #3
Released: 1980-04-11

A down-on his-luck baseball pitcher finds a new set of rewards coaching a gang of...

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Chesty Anderson U.S. Navy

as Cocoa Daniels
Released: 1976-11-01

When one of her friends goes missing, Chesty and several fellow WAVEs go looking for her and end...

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Coach

as Sue
Released: 1978-03-17

A young, blonde and beautiful woman is hired to coach a team of underachieving basketball...

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Peter Gunn

as Waitress
Released: 1989-04-23

Peter Gunn, a connoisseur of beautiful women and cool jazz, is an ex-cop turned private eye...

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The Night They Took Miss Beautiful

as April Garland
Released: 1977-10-24

Criminals hijack an airplane carrying five beauty contest finalists, but unknowingly they've...

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Illusions

as Esther Jeter
Released: 1982-08-30

A woman in a Hollywood dubbing studio struggles with race and preconceptions.

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Police Story: The Watch Commander

as Janice
Released: 1988-11-12

This is the story of policeman who has been on the job for over forty years. And one of his...

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The City Girl

as Ira
Released: 1984-02-17

A female photographer who is engaged to a businessman investigates a cult in the local club...

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Playboy's Roller Disco & Pajama Party

as Self (uncredited)
Released: 1979-11-23

Hugh Hefner invites you to Playboy’s Roller Disco and Pajama Party! With your host, Richard Dawson!

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Casting

as Woman of the cast
Released: 1983-05-17

A famous director wants to make a film about true love, the kind his grandparents experienced...

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Autism: The Musical

as Herself
Released: 2007-04-18

Follows five autistic children as they work together to create and perform a live musical...

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Ebony, Ivory & Jade

as Pam Rogers
Released: 1976-09-24

An American track team has just arrived in The Philippines for an international competition....

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Rich

as Donna
Released: 1983-07-25

A young man living in the inner city, runs into conflicts with his mother when he decides to...

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St. Elsewhere

as uncredited
First aired: 1982-10-26

St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from...

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Full House

as uncredited
First aired: 1987-09-22

After the death of his wife, Danny enlists his best friend and his brother-in-law to help raise...

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Starsky & Hutch

as uncredited
First aired: 1975-09-10

Streetwise Detective David Starsky partners up with a more intellectual partner, Kenneth 'Hutch'...

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Good Times

as uncredited
First aired: 1974-02-08

Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1,...

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The Facts of Life

as uncredited
First aired: 1979-08-24

The Facts of Life is an American sitcom that originally ran on the NBC television network from...

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Sanford and Son

as uncredited
First aired: 1972-01-14

The misadventures of a cantankerous junk dealer and his frustrated son.

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What's Happening!!

as uncredited
First aired: 1976-08-05

What's Happening!! is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from August 5, 1976 to...

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CHiPs

as uncredited
First aired: 1977-09-15

Lighthearted look at the adventures of two Highway Patrol officers in Los Angeles. The main...

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That's My Mama

as uncredited
First aired: 1974-09-04

Clifton Curtis has got it made—he runs a successful business he inherited from his late father...

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Logan's Run

as uncredited
First aired: 1977-09-16

In a futuristic society where reaching the age of 30 is a death sentence, a rebellious law...

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Grady

as Laurie Marshall
First aired: 1975-12-04

Grady is an spin-off of the sitcom, Sanford and Son. In this series, Fred Sanford's widower...

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