Penny Baker was born on October 5, 1965 in Buffalo, New York. Baker grew up on her family's farm in Buffalo. Moreover, she attended modeling school in Buffalo and at age thirteen began doing free modeling jobs to build up her portfolio. Penny entered the Modeling Association of America International competition in New York City and won it. Baker finished high school a year early and by age sixteen was already pursuing a professional modeling career. She moved to Chicago, Illinois and applied for a job at Playboy Models. Penny was chosen from 7,000 applicants to be the 30th Anniversary Playmate in the January, 1984 issue of "Playboy;" she both graced the cover of and did a pictorial in this particular issue. Baker subsequently appeared in a handful of "Playboy" videos and special edition publications. Penny then settled in Los Angeles, California and embarked on a brief acting career; she has a small part in the comedy "Real Genius" and a more substantial role as sweet prostitute Lake in "The Men's Club." In addition, she was the spokesperson for Suzuki.
