Angel Lynn Boris has turned heads pretty much ever since she was born. One look at her makes it patently easy to see why. She’s unquestionably beautiful; she doesn’t need you nor I to tell her that. 30 years ago today she got one of the ultimate endorsements of that from way more discerning folk–a big enough deal so that she was profiled in her hometown SUN-SENTINEL:
It is difficult to discern much about Angel Lynn Boris from her centerfold layout in July’s Playboy magazine…Sure, you’d find out she was born in Fort Lauderdale, but you’d never know she went to Dillard and Coconut Creek high schools or that she loves softball, football and – like any good South Floridian – hockey…From the photos, you could only deduce that she’s handy with a cigar, she can really work sheer lingerie and, of course, she’s nude – unapologetically nude.
If you’re a hardcore fan of classic BEVERLY HILLS 90210 you might have known her from a defining arc in its Season Eight where she played the cunning journalist Emma Bennett, who profiles and then seduces the heroic Brandon Walsh. A few years later she had a six-month gig on GENERAL HOSPITAL–back in a day when ABC actually had a daytime lineup and significant ratings, playing an even more controversial femme fatale eponymously named Angel Ellis. Her Soap Central.com plot line is a textbook study in why the genre exists in the first place:
Angel was first seen when mobster Sonny Corinthos was stabbed by Sorel. She took him to her secluded house and nursed him back to life. While he stayed with her, she kept herself a mystery as she didn’t offer any personal information. It was unknown to viewers if Angel in fact was an angel. She wore white all of the time. It was later revealed that Angel was the daughter of Sonny’s arch enemy, Joseph Sorel. Angel had been married years before to Donnie Ellis who worked for and was killed by her father. She wore white to signify her feelings after her husband’s death. Angel became very attracted to Sonny and felt she understood him because of her family ties to the mob. Sonny figured out that Angel was Sorel’s daughter. He was angry but didn’t end their friendship. Angel’s father was murdered. Due to their severed relationship, she was a suspect…The police finally realized what Sonny had guessed long before – Angel had killed Sorel. Angel wanted to turn herself in, but Sonny and Jax refused. Sonny and Carly worked up a ruse with Carly posing as Angel, while Jax spirited Angel away to a secret island.
But reality isn’t quite as provocative as the mind of a soap opera writer–and certainly not the mind of someone who merely reads magazines. There’s no secret island–just a tidy little bedroom community in the San Fernando Valley. And I for one would contend that Angel Boris’ greatest “roles” have come since then, when she became the extremely proud mother of two college-age young men who share her love for music and a gifted high school age daughter very much blessed with her mom’s DNA.
I happen to know this because I’ve actually met and even hung out with Angel, because as it turns out she had a childhood friendship with my bestie and a current friendship with an exceptionally talented ex-colleague of mine at Sony. And the fact she now lives very close to where my own liberation began six years ago today thanks to another long-lost friend(?) from South Florida who also unapolgetically graced the pages of Hugh Hefner’s publications only adds to the irony and appreciation for the fact that if one actually gets the chance to actually know the persons behind their images their real beauty and allure becomes self-evident. The best parts of folks like Angel and the others that have helped reinvigorate my reason for existing are the ones most “fans” never see. I’m testimony to that.
And they’re not the only ones whose lives have evolved to the point where simply getting naked is just not an option. These days you can find Angel as one of the more prominent faces behind an online effort that pretty much explains why QVC hasn’t aged quite as well as she has. Per her Grokipedia:
Boris became actively involved in the Rogue Bunnies collective, a women-led Web3 and entertainment brand founded by former Playboy Playmate Victoria Fuller in the early 2020s. This venture represents a post-entertainment entrepreneurial endeavor that leverages the enduring public personas of legacy Playmates, transitioning their legacy into digital assets, events, and media without nudity…The Rogue Bunnies brand emphasizes blockchain integration, launching as an NFT collection featuring digital trading cards of over 100 former Playmates, including Boris, to foster mainstream Web3 adoption. Key milestones include the release of Series 3 NFT trading cards in May 2024, which pushed boundaries in digital collectibles and art, and the January 2025 debut of the $BUNNI token as part of a lifestyle NFT project aimed at blending pop culture with cryptocurrency. Boris’s involvement extends to in-person events, where she engages fans through autographing on platforms like Whatnot, hosted by Fuller, enhancing the brand’s real-world accessibility and community building.
Fuller had her own “anniversary” earlier this year.–she was Miss January 1996. Kudos to her for realizing that opportunities to capitalize on one’s legacy need not be exclusively in the hands of those who run the “-cons”. As anyone who had overpaid for a photo or merch of questionable quality at celebrations of pop culture can attest, there’s a reason those events got their names besides being an abbreviation for convention. By taking it online and focusing on the stories of the actual people involved it has elevated the effort into a truly entertaining hang worthy of your time even if you aren’t inclined to clutter your attic with what some still consider pornography. You won’t ever hear anyone associated with the Playboy brand ever reference it that way. You’ll hear gratitude and reverence that contradict the stories that tend to get the most outsized attention, such as the ones we mused about four years ago.
And if you actually have the chance to get to know some of these undeniably beautiful women as I have, you can begin to grasp why I get defensive when others’ more simplistic dirty minds choose to pass judgement on any of them–or me, for that matter. Spend ten minutes watching Angel Boris rock to her sons’ music and tell me if you have ever seen a more loving and proud parent anywhere. Spend a few months in the company of some of her fellow South Florida natives and try and tell me how badly their histories influenced them. Spend a few years with a best friend who actually cares about you in a way no spouse ever did. I sincerely hope most of you have actually had such an opportunity or someday might.
So please join me in congratulating Angel Boris on this milestone–one she will be celebrating later this afternoon on Whatnot, of course. She may have once been Miss July, but in my book these days she’s got a few votes for Woman Of The Year. Happy anniversary to her. And, for that matter, to me.
Until next time…