Charlaine Karalus rocked up to the Playboy premises in Chicago in 1955 as a fresh-faced 21-year-old hoping for a bog-standard office job.

By the time she died on May 1 2017, aged 82, Charlaine had become Janet Pilgrim, one of Hugh Hefner's most iconic Playmates.

The Illinois native's transformation from office pencil pusher to Playboy pin-up was as revolutionary for the brand as it was for her, with the then two-year-old business expanding on its array of professional models and actresses with a new concept – the girl-next-door.

"I had hoped to get on the ground floor with this magazine and grow with them," Janet said of her time working in the publication's corporate office.

She impressed after securing her first job with Playboy and was soon promoted to the level of subscription manager, where she caught the eye in a different way.

Hefner, yet to become the titan of the lad mag industry we know him as today, was naturally drawn to the young beautiful blonde. He thought she was wasted behind the scenes and, against the advice of others in the Playboy boardroom, offered Janet another promotion.

"I really thought it was too close to home, that she would be embarrassed," Playboy's then art director Art Paul admitted after the fact.

"Naturally, it turned out to be another of Hef’s strokes of genius."

Janet agreed to the career change in July 1955 on two conditions, that Hefner picked her a new name and that he supply the subscriptions office with a new addressograph, to which he obliged on both counts.

Thus, Charlaine became 'Janet Pilgrim', supposedly picked by Hefner for its puritanical connotations.

Looking back on her life-changing decision, Janet said: "Posing for the centrefold was a big step for me to take. The pictures are very modest by today’s standards, but back then they weren’t."

It turned out to be a sliding doors moment for both Janet and Hefner.

Playboy themselves write: "Whether she knew it at the time or not, Pilgrim symbolised the ultimate rebellious wink to the public and she came to represent much of what Playboy would stand for in the days and decades to come."

Janet was an instant success, becoming Playmate of the Month in that first issue and twice more in December 1955 and October 1956. She grew so popular that at one point Hefner offered a personal phone call with her as part of a lifelong subscription scheme.

Writing next to the snaps in her first-ever appearance, the magazine magnate said: "We suppose it’s natural to think of pulchritudinous Playmates as existing in a world apart.

"Actually, potential Playmates are all around you: the new secretary at your office, the doe-eyed beauty who sat opposite you at lunch yesterday, the girl who sells you shirts and ties at your favourite store.

"We found Miss July in our own circulation department."

The July 1955 issue featuring Janet has since been declared Playboy's second most iconic cover by Elle, beaten only by Marilyn Monroe's first appearance in the magazine in December 1953.

According to Elle, the cover was groundbreaking in that it was the first time a bikini had been modelled in such a prominent and alluring manner.

Despite becoming a rip-roaring success in the world of modelling, Janet continued to work behind the scenes at Playboy with her name remaining in the masthead as 'head of reader's services' for ten years.

The quintessential girl-next-door would go on to marry, have two kids and settle in Connecticut, where she trained as a nurse caring for the elderly and people with Alzheimer’s disease.

"I know they’re very proud that their mother is Janet Pilgrim," she once said when asked what her daughters thought of her previous life.

"Having been in the centrefold three times isn’t likely to happen again."

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