We had a request for more pictures, following our recent 1973 Pubic Wars post, of the lovely Anneka de Lorenzo in her hip bath, so here she is, from the September 1973 issue of Penthouse.
These pictures were taken by Bob Guccione himself and are very typical of the early seventies "boudoir" style that Penthouse developed which was much copied elsewhere.
Bathrooms are, of course, a comparatively modern invention. Before about 1870, everyone, rich and poor alike, would bathe in portable baths like this which would be placed in front of a fire in the kitchen or living room.
Anneka looks particularly fetching in hers although perhaps the addition of a maid would have been nice!
Anneka de Lorenzo was born Marjorie Lee Thoresen in St Paul, Minnesota. After her parents divorced she moved to Los Angeles and worked as a waitress, receptionist and dancer as do thousands of other pretty girls when first moving to Los Angeles.
Anneka saw Bob Guccione on TV in August 1972 saying that he was a filmmaker and Anneka promptly wrote to him with some pictures as she thought he could help get her into films.
Guccione met her the following year and decided that she could be the Pet of the Month for September 1973. He flew her to London for her photo shoot.
Guccione made Anneka Pet of the Year in 1975 and led her to believe that she would be given the major role of Caesonia in his new film, Caligula. In the end the part went to Helen Mirren and her role was reduced to that of a non-speaking one. She is still very visible in the finished film, however, especially the uncut version, as she was one of the few Pets who also filmed scenes with Tinto Brass rather than just the added sex scenes Guccione filmed in secret.
She did get the leading role in Messalina, Messalina, a quick exploitation film which used the sets and costumes from Caligula in an attempt by the producers to make some money back for the troubled production. She appeared in a few other films including Brian de Palma's thriller Dressed to Kill.
Anneka's final experiences with Penthouse weren't good and in 1988 she took Guccione to court accusing him of sexual harrasment. She won $60,000 in compensation and $4,000,000 in punitive damages. Whether she ever saw any of the money is not known...
