Maria Stinger(1931-1967)

Lovely, buxom, and shapely knockout Maria Stinger was a 1950's pin-up model who bore a striking resemblance to Marilyn Monroe. Maria was born out of wedlock in 1931 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father was an Anglo-Irish policeman. Stinger moved to Miami, Florida in October, 1948. She met her future husband Harry Walter Stinger in 1949 and married him later that same year. In 1953 Maria was introduced to noted glamor photographer Bunny Yeager by fellow glamor photographer Bill Hamilton. Stinger holds the distinction of being the first model to pose for Yeager; a photo of her taken by Yeager graced the cover of the March, 1954 issue of the magazine "Eye - People and Pictures." Among the men's magazines Maria did pictorials for are "Caper," "Gala," "Glance," and "Rogue." In October, 1954 Stinger was crowned Miami's Marilyn Monroe in a beauty contest that was sponsored by the local newspaper "The Miami Herald." Maria went on to participate in the Miss Florida beauty contest around that same time. In late 1954 she posed for bondage-style pictures for famous fetish photographer Irving Klaw. Maria appeared in several nudie cutie soft-core features made throughout the 1960's. In 1964 Stinger attempted suicide by overdosing on pills. Although she had three daughters with Harry Walter Stinger, Maria nonetheless still divorced him in February, 1965. Stinger then moved to Columbia, South Carolina. Maria Stinger committed suicide at the tragically young age of 36 by overdosing on pills in November, 1967.