Melba Figge, free-spirited photographer and studio owner, dies at 92

Melba Figge, co-founder of Figge Photography in Newport Beach, whose work included photographs of dozens of Playboy centerfolds and celebrities like John Wayne, has died. She was 92.

Figge died Jan. 21 of natural causes at her Corona del Mar home.

In an interview Thursday, Figge’s children recalled their mother’s magnetic personality. She was renowned for her free-spirited humor, like when she tumbled down water slides with her clothes on and drove around Newport Beach in a gold Mercedes.

Professionally, her family said, she epitomized Figge Photography’s philosophy: “Find good people, great light and have fun.”

“She was a rascal,” said her son, Greg Figge. “She was irreverent, but kind and gentle, fun and generous. Generous is the key word. She loved to have fun with people, and she got away with it.”

Figge was born in 1922 in Managua, Nicaragua, the daughter of a statesman. Her father, Leopoldo Lacayo, was appointed vice consul to the United States from Nicaragua by President Calvin Coolidge.

When she was about 18 months old, her family moved to the United States. She grew up in Hollywood.

While attending USC as a Spanish major, she met her husband, William. They were married in 1945, soon after his Army service in World War II as a combat photographer.

Figge maintained her love for her alma mater, raising money for the university and serving as a board member for an alumni association.

Figge started Figge Photography with William in Culver City in 1945. Greg Figge said his parents’ enterprise — which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year — got its initial boost when the two decided they would go to city officials and ask about marriage licenses.

Armed with the information, the Figges would approach brides-to-be and their soon-to-be-husbands and offer their services. If a couple liked the photos, they could buy them. Otherwise, no charge.

“They were so good at photography that it didn’t take very long for them to get recommendations to friends,” said Figge’s daughter, Leslie Figge Chatillon, who works with Greg at Figge Photography.

The business soon moved to Glendale, where the studio remained for decades. The Figges became internationally famous for their Playboy centerfolds, publishing nearly 50 of them before stopping as the magazine became more risqué.

Figge, noted for her occasionally off-color humor, said later that she “started feeling more like a gynecologist than a photographer.”

Their first centerfold was of Sue Williams, April 1965 Playmate of the Month, Figge told the Daily Pilot in a 2005 interview.

“We sent the first one in ... and Hugh Hefner said, ‘She’s really cute. We’d like to see your work.’ So we said, ‘Fine,’ and did some more cute pictures of her. They loved our work and pretty soon they added our names to the magazine as contributors because we didn’t want to be part of their staff. We did 48 centerfolds that were published.”

In 1976, Figge decided to open a second studio with her children in Newport Beach, on Newport Center Drive. That was the same year William died.

The Figges maintained their Glendale studio until 1980, then kept operations exclusively in Newport.

Figge had a way of making her clients feel at ease with her candid nature and, for men particularly, her colorful language.

“And they would love her for it,” Greg Figge said. “The pictures would turn out better.”

Her subjects also included a host of celebrities, including Newport’s own John Wayne, as well as Bob Hope, Natalie Wood, Michael Landon, Barbara Bush and presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon.

A 1992 Los Angeles Times feature about the Figges’ family, led by a “still sassy and savvy” 70-year-old Melba Figge, described it as “so wholesome and so close that it makes the Brady Bunch look dysfunctional.” The studio, The Times reported, was so busy that it “turns down more weddings than it books.”

The writer of The Times’ story, Jerry Holderman, sent the family a note after hearing of Figge’s death last month.

“Our paths crossed at many client photo shoots over the years, and she was always great company,” Holderman wrote. “Formidable yet fun, she had a big personality and a fierce sense of humor — ‘off-color’ was definitely one of the shades in her rainbow.... [Figge] was the real deal, and I was lucky to have known her.”

In addition to children Greg Figge and Leslie Figge Chatillon, Figge is survived by her sons Eric and Stephan; twin sisters, Muriel Wiggle and Miriam LaPlante; nine grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Public services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at Balboa Island’s St. John Vianney Chapel, 314 Marine Ave., Newport Beach.