Skip to main content
Rosanne Katon

Rosanne Katon

Actor · b. 1954 · New York City, New York, USA

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.

Movies22

  • Movie6.3

    Bachelor Party

    1984 · 738 votes

  • Movie5.2

    Zapped!

    1982 · 162 votes

  • Movie6.9

    Let's Do It Again

    1975 · 24 votes

  • Movie5.8

    Motel Hell

    1980 · 274 votes

  • Movie9.0
  • Movie5.6
  • Movie3.0
  • Movie8.0

    The City Girl

    1984 · 3 votes

  • Movie1.0
  • Movie4.4

    Harem

    1985 · 29 votes

  • Movie4.3
  • Movie3.6

    Coach

    1978 · 11 votes

  • Movie5.6

    American Raspberry

    1977 · 9 votes

  • Movie3.9

    Body and Soul

    1981 · 12 votes

  • Movie4.3

    Lunch Wagon

    1981 · 8 votes

  • Movie6.0

    The Comeback Kid

    1980 · 12 votes

  • Movie8.5

    Rich

    1983 · 2 votes

  • Movie5.4

    Peter Gunn

    1989 · 7 votes

  • Movie5.7
  • Movie4.7

    The Muthers

    1976 · 32 votes

  • Movie6.8

    Ebony, Ivory & Jade

    1976 · 5 votes

  • Movie7.0

    Autism: The Musical

    2007 · 16 votes

Series11

  • TV7.1

    The Facts of Life

    1979 · 108 votes

  • TV7.5

    Full House

    1987 · 1.2K votes

  • TV5.7

    St. Elsewhere

    1982 · 93 votes

  • TV7.3

    Starsky & Hutch

    1975 · 208 votes

  • TV8.0

    Good Times

    1974 · 86 votes

  • TV7.5

    Sanford and Son

    1972 · 102 votes

  • TV6.8

    CHiPs

    1977 · 154 votes

  • TV7.4

    What's Happening!!

    1976 · 31 votes

  • TV6.8

    Logan's Run

    1977 · 41 votes

  • TV7.3

    That's My Mama

    1974 · 7 votes

  • TV7.0

    Grady

    1975 · 3 votes