Anneka Di Lorenzo, Penthouse Pet of the Month, September 1973 and Pet of the Year 1975

Anneka Di Lorenzo Bio Pet of The Year 1975

September 6, 1952 - January 4, 2011 / Virgo / Age 58

Anneka Di Lorenzo was an American-born Penthouse model, adult model, and actress, born Marjorie Lee Thoreson on September 6, 1952 in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. Throughout her modeling career, she has also appeared under the names Anneka De Lorenzo, Anneka Vasta or Messalina, each marking a distinct chapter in her evolving on-camera persona.

Anneka Di Lorenzo was crowned Penthouse Pet of the Month in September 1973 before rising to the coveted title of Pet of the Year 1975, stepping into the spotlight at just 20 years old. With her statuesque 36-22-35 figure, charming brown eyes, fiery red hair, and natural breasts, Anneka embodies a bright, rising sensuality — fresh-faced, confident, and full of magnetic charm.

Anneka Di Lorenzo became one of the most dramatic and complex figures of Penthouse’s early era. Striking, intense, and undeniably magnetic, Anneka embodied the magazine’s shift toward cinematic ambition — where glamour modeling intersected with international film and cultural spectacle.

She moved to Los Angeles as a teenager following her parents’ divorce, working a series of jobs while studying acting and competing in beauty contests. By 1973, under the name Anneka Di Lorenzo, she emerged as a Penthouse standout. Her Pet of the Year pictorial in 1975 solidified her as one of the magazine’s defining mid-’70s faces, combining bold sensuality with theatrical presence.

Her rise coincided with Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione expanding into film. Anneka was cast as Messalina in the controversial epic Caligula, a production that blurred the line between mainstream cinema and explicit spectacle. She reprised the role in the Italian feature Messalina, Messalina!, further cementing her association with the character. Additional screen appearances followed in 1970s exploitation films such as The Centerfold Girls and later a small role in Dressed to Kill, directed by Brian De Palma.

Her relationship with Guccione and Penthouse later deteriorated, leading to a high-profile sexual harassment lawsuit in the 1980s that drew national attention and highlighted growing tensions between models and publishers during the era’s shifting cultural climate. The legal battle, combined with the controversy surrounding Caligula, significantly affected her career trajectory.

In later years, Anneka stepped away from the spotlight, working various jobs and eventually training as a yoga instructor. In January 2011, she was found deceased on a California beach under circumstances that authorities described as unclear, marking a tragic end to a life that had once been intensely public.

Anneka Di Lorenzo remains one of the most emblematic figures of Penthouse’s boldest chapter — a woman whose beauty, ambition, controversy, and vulnerability became inseparable from the magazine’s most audacious years.