International

Hugh Hefner, Playboy magazine founder, dies at 91

Hugh Hefner

“Life’s too short to be living somebody else’s dream”

 

Los Angeles: Playboy founder Hugh M Hefner, the-pipe smoking, silk pajamas-wearing founder of Playboy who helped steer nudity into the American mainstream and built a multimedia empire of clubs, mansions, movies and television, symbolised by bow-tied women in bunny costumes, has died at age 91.

Hefner died of natural causes at his Beverly Hills home – the famed Playboy Mansion – surrounded by family on Wednesday night, Playboy Enterprises said in a statement.

Hefner founded Playboy magazine in 1953. Born on April 9, 1926 in Chicago, Hefner was the elder of two sons.

In 1953, a time when states could legally ban contraceptives, when the word “pregnant” was not allowed on “I Love Lucy,” Hefner published the first issue of Playboy, featuring naked photos of Marilyn Monroe (taken years earlier) and an editorial promise of “humor, sophistication and spice.”

Within a year of its publication, circulation neared 200,000. Within five years, it had topped 1 million.

By the 1970s, the magazine had more than 7 million readers and had inspired such raunchier imitations as Penthouse and Hustler. Competition and the internet reduced circulation to less than 3 million by the 21st century, and the number of issues published annually was cut from 12 to 11.

The Playboy Magazine website, in tribute, has a file picture of Hefner, with a quote: “Life’s too short to be living somebody else’s dream”.

Hefner is survived by his wife Crystal and four children – Christie, who served as CEO of Playboy Enterprise for more than 20 years, David, Marston and Cooper, who currently serves as Chief Creative Officer at the company. Hefner settled down somewhat in 2012 at age 86 when he took Crystal Harris, who was 60 years younger, as his third wife.

Time Magazine once called Hefner the ‘prophet of pop hedonism’.

At the time of his death, his net worth stood at $43 million, mostly due to his success as the founder of Playboy.

 

(With inputs from PTI)

Click to comment
To Top