Bio: Lovely Joan Staley was born Joan McConchie on May 20, 1940 in Minneapolis, Minnesota and started taking violin lessons by the time she was three years old. Living in Los Angeles, her prodigious talent was obvious. She soon joined a baby orchestra in Los Angeles and, within a few years, became a Junior Symphony performer at age six. She also made her unbilled specialty debut on film as a child violinist in The Emperor Waltz (1948), starring Bing Crosby and Joan Fontaine.Her father's business had the family traveling throughout Europe growing up but she later relocated to California and briefly enrolled at Chapman College in the Los Angeles area. Becoming a stunning, statuesque beauty, she re-directed herself back to a career in show business, singing backup on records for Sam Phillips and working as a secretary to make ends meet while appearing in local L.A. stage productions.In 1958, she was approached by a photographer and eventually posed for Playboy magazine, becoming November's centerfold. The attention warranted her an MGM contract and cheesecake bit parts came her way with such movies as Ocean's Eleven (1960) and Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). She appeared front-and-center �� la Raquel Welch as a scantily-clad prehistoric turn-on in Valley of the Dragons (1961), but nothing much came of it.Following her perky love interests in the mediocre western Gunpoint (1966), starring Audie Murphy, and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966), a Don Knotts comedy film, and guest appearances on such TV shows as "Rango," "Pistols and Petticoats, "Mission: Impossible," "Ironside" and "Adam-12," Joan's career went on hiatus after a horse-riding accident.Briefly married to Chuck Staley, her second husband is former Universal exec Dale Sheets. Twins were born to them, a boy and girl, on March 24, 1971. Since then, with the exception of a brief appearance on an episode of "Dallas" in 1982, Joan remained with family life and other outside pursuits. She died on November 24, 2019.
Tivia: Playboy Playmate of the Month November 1958An avid consumer activist, she served 2 years as national director of Fight Inflation Together.Living in California working with her husband's firm (as does her daughter Dina Sheets-Roth). Also serves as a religious counselor to troubled teenage boys. (May 2003)She had a daughter, Sherrye, from her first marriage to Chuck Staley. Husband, Dale Sheets, had 3 children from his first marriage. Joan and Dale have three children: Stephanie, Greg, and Dina. Together they raised 7 children. They now have 10 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild (as of 2003).Was a Hollywood Deb Star of 1962.In 1966, she suffered a serious back injury as a result of a horseback riding accident during the filming of Gunpoint (1966) starring Audie Murphy. She stopped working in films after that and concentrated on television.In early 1958, Lawrence Schiller, a Life photographer, approached asked her to pose nude for Playboy. They did a photo shoot together, which resulted in the actual spread used by the magazine. Publisher Hugh Hefner selected her to be Playboy's "Miss November" 1958.Her second husband Dale Sheets, formerly an MCA-Universal executive, formed International Ventures, Inc., located in Valencia, California, a company for theatrical personal management that schedules bookings for entertainers.Her body was Cremated and her Ashes were given to family or friend.