NOTE: If you’re wondering where all the Playboy pictures are, here’s what happened to them.

Finnish model Kata Kärkkäinen is unique among the vast but inbred Playboy family in that she has a striking, doll-like face on the one hand and the body of an Auschwitz inmate on the other. This may be why her body’s had a brief appearance in only one Playboy video while her face (from her December 1988 cover) was for a time nearly as iconographic for Playboy as the familiar wide-eyed Afghan girl still is for National Geographic.

   

By the way, hardcore fans of Playboy might wonder why Kata’s last name is spelled here “Kärkkäinen” instead of “Kârkkâinen” like it is in Playboy. At first I, too, used circumflexes over the as in her name, but later it was pointed out to me by a Finn that Playboy’s use of circumflexes is mistakenly based on the way Kata signs her name —

— which looks like she’s using circumflexes but is in fact how Finns make their umlauts when writing by hand. After some coaxing, I finally caved into grammatical orthodoxy and switched to using umlauts myself.

(It seems that just when I think I know the limits of my anal retentiveness, my mental sphincter finds new things to seize on and tighten up over...)

UPDATE: (November 2001) It seems that Kata’s slight build isn’t the only thing that makes her unique — contrary to the stereotype of most Playmates, Kata’s a member of Mensa International. And she’s a script writer. And an author. And one of her books, Minä ja Morrison, was turned into a feature film this year. Sheesh.

UPDATE: (July 2010) However one wants to write her name, on January 25, 2010, it officially became a moot issue — for whatever reasons, Kata announced on that day that she changed her name to “Katariina Souri”.

Also sprach Golem.

Film

• Kuutamosonaatti II: Kadunlakaisijat (1991) .... Kata Kärkkäinen
• The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990) .... Girl at Funeral [uncredited]
• Vääpeli Körmy ja marsalkan sauva (1990; aka “Sergeant Körmy and the Marshall's Stick”) .... Kauneuskilpailuvoittaja 1

• Making of “Minä ja Morrison” (2001) .... Herself

• Yokotai (Feb 23, 2003) .... Herself
• Kokkisota (Nov 29, 2001) .... Herself
• Pop-komissi (Feb 21, 2001) .... Herself
• Hurja joukko (1998) .... Herself
• Valhetta ja rakkautta (1997) .... Herself
• Luonnonmukainen rakastaja (1992)

• Sexy Lingerie (1988) .... Model

• Kata Kärkkäinen ja julkisuuden penteleet
  Sonera Plaza (Jul 19, 2004)
  Pitkän linjan julkkis kertoo lapsuudestaan ja kohelluksistaan suomalaisessa mediassa.

Miscellaneous

• Kata Kärkkäinen Filmography
  Internet Movie Database
  Always up-to-date filmography
• Kata Kärkkäinen
  Wikipedia
  Kata Kärkkäinen in wikireality