Hugh Hefner
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Hugh Hefner, publisher of Playboy, as seen on the November 1976 cover of Esquire holding a copy of Hustler. |
Hugh Marston Hefner (born
April 9,
1926 in
Chicago,
Illinois), also referred to colloquially as "Hef," is the founder and
editor-in-chief of
Playboy magazine. He has become a
charismatic icon and spokesman for the
sexual revolution and of
personal freedom.
Hefner reportedly grew up "in a very typically
Methodist repressed home" with "no show of affection of any kind". He went to Sayre Elementary School, and Steinmetz High School, then served in the
U.S. Army during the closing months of
WWII.
Hefner has stated that he entered the army a virgin, and left the army a virgin. He eventually lost his virginity aged 22.
Upon his release, he majored in
psychology at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and resumed his relationship with Mildred Williams. They married on
June 25,
1949 and had two children,
Christie and David Paul (born August 1955), a computer programmer. Christie is
Chairperson of
Playboy Enterprises (PEI). Hefner divorced Mildred in 1959.
Despite spending less than three years in college before graduating, Hefner found time to edit
Shaft, and sold
cartoons to magazines. His first salaried job was with a firm that produced and printed cardboard cartons.
After later serving in both the subscription department and as a
copywriter for
Esquire, he left in January 1952 after being denied a $5 raise. He moved on to
Children's Activities, then took his biggest gamble in 1953 by loaning his furniture for $400 and raising $10,000 from 45 investors - including $1,000 from his mother ("Not because she believed in the venture," Hefner told
E! in 2006. "But because she believed in her son.") - to start
Playboy.
Hefner claims he hatched the idea for
Playboy while in college, and that the name for the magazine came from his decision that his "baby" should have the name he "knew he was himself". In truth, the original working title of his magazine was
Stag Party but Hefner was forced to change it to avoid a trademark conflict with the existing
Stag Magazine. The name "Playboy" was suggested by a friend, Eldon Sellers, with Hefner noting that rabbits were the "playboys" of the animal world. Cartoonist Arv Miller remodeled the stag in a
smoking jacket to a rabbit in a smoking jacket and the transformation was complete.
From his experience in advertising, Hefner saw the need to package sexuality into aspirational categories, to tell a story about it that placed men in the narrative itself in a way that was not just acceptable but desirable. In launching
Playboy, perhaps the smartest thing Hefner did was to reinvent himself as an urbane sophisticate who enjoyed the company of young women.
The first issue of the magazine arrived in December 1953 (with no date on the cover), and had a nude photo of
Marilyn Monroe inside. Hefner had purchased the rights to the photos for a mere $200, then watched his investment sell nearly 54,000 copies. Marilyn was actually the first Playmate, but at the time the term hadn't been invented so she was known as "Sweetheart of the Month". During its first three years, other material in the magazine consisted of reprints from other magazines, but then became strictly original.
In 1955, the idea of the centerfold came about because of the need for a copy machine in the magazine's offices. A female employee named Charlene Drain made the request, with Hefner offering to purchase it if the well-endowed Drain would pose naked. Accepting the offer, Drain became "
Janet Pilgrim" in the July issue and started the centerfold tradition that continues to the present.
Hefner saw his first brush with the law come in
1958 when he, a teenager named Elizabeth Ann Roberts, and her mother were arrested in Chicago after photos of Roberts appeared in Playboy. After authorities realized that Hefner had been told she was 18 years old, charges of contributing to the delinquency of a child were dropped.
At its peak,
Playboy sold more than 1,200,000 issues each month. Hefner's concept exploded as a variety of different avenues opened up. A late-night television program, "Playboy's Penthouse," premiered; conversation among urbane guests its main selling point. In addition, the show featured prominent
African-American performers. These singers and musicians, as well as comedians such as
Lenny Bruce and
Dick Gregory made the show a unique viewing experience.
The first
Playboy Jazz Festival took place in
Rhode Island in 1959 and has become a staple for the most prominent musicians in the field.
Hefner opened up the first "Playboy Club" in Chicago, which featured women in bunny costumes serving drinks to customers who listened to many of the same guests that populated Hefner's television show. In less than two years, the number of clubs had expanded to 12, with over 125,000 patrons paying either $25 for a charter membership or $50 for a lifetime membership. During the 1980s, the Clubs folded, Playboy lost its casino licenses in
Atlantic City and the U.K. Hefner suffered a
stroke in 1985. Three years later, he passed control of Playboy's business operations to his daughter Christie.
Before their wedding, Mildred told Hefner that she had had an affair; he has called the admission "the most devastating moment of my life." A 2006
E! THS profile of Hefner revealed she let him cheat on her, both in the hopes it would preserve their marriage and out of guilt for her infidelity.
In 1989, he ended a 35-year
bachelor party, and, on
July 1, married
Kimberley Conrad, that year's Playmate of the Year. They separated in 1998, though have yet to
divorce. They had two children: Marston Glenn, born on Hefner's 64th birthday, and Cooper Bradford, born on
September 4,
1991. Cooper is now studying in Ojai Valley School, California. While Hefner was
monogamous, the THS profile suggested that Conrad was not.
During some years, Hefner has said that he was "'involved' with maybe eleven out of twelve months worth of Playmates."[
1]Hefner has had sustained relationships with
Donna Michelle,
Marilyn Cole,
Lillian Muller,
Patti McGuire,
Terri Welles,
Shannon Tweed, and
Brande Roderick, all of whom were chosen "
Playmate of the Year". Other noteworthy attachments include
Barbi Benton,
Karen Christy, ex-
Sunday school teacher
Sondra Theodore, and actress
Carrie Leigh, who filed a $35 million
palimony suit against him. Benton remains a fixture in Hefner's life and a regular visitor to the
Playboy Mansion, which she found for him.
After his separation, Hefner began living with an ever-changing number of women, ranging in age from 18 to 28. He told
Vanity Fair: "And here's the surprise bit—it's what
they want!" The actual nature of these relationships is the subject of speculation. No children have yet come of them, nor does Hefner have children from outside his marriages. The 2005
reality television series
The Girls Next Door profiles his most recent girlfriends,
Holly Madison,
Bridget Marquardt and
Kendra Wilkinson. While the three all spend time with Hefner, Holly shares his bed at night.
Hefner has always espoused a shared
liberal/
libertarian stance in his editorials and in his life. On
June 4,
1963, Hefner was arrested for selling obscene literature after an issue of
Playboy featuring nude shots of actress
Jayne Mansfield was released. Six months later, a jury was unable to reach a verdict.
The
Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards were created by daughter
Christie in 1979 "to honor individuals who have made significant contributions in the vital effort to protect and enhance First Amendment rights for Americans."
Hefner and his family have donated and raised great amounts of money for the Democratic Party.
*Every Sunday night at the
Playboy Mansion Hefner hosts a movie night. He has an elaborate collection of films atop the spiraling staircase of his bedroom.
*"The stuff that dreams are made of", a favorite quote Hefner often uses to refer to the success of
Playboy, comes from
Humphrey Bogart in
The Maltese Falcon; both are misquotations from Act IV, Scene I of
Shakespeare's
The Tempest (
"We are such stuff as dreams are made on").
*In a 2005 interview with
Time magazine, Hefner said he is a direct descendant of
William Bradford, a Puritan who came over on the ship
Mayflower.
*It has been reported that Hefner has either a room or floor to himself in the
Drake Hotel.
*In a TV
documentary, Hefner stated that he was a virgin when he went into the Army and a virgin when he got out. He eventually lost his virginity aged 22.
*Hefner purchased the crypt in the
Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in
Westwood, California, beside
Marilyn Monroe.
*Hefner has appeared in
The Simpsons in the episode 'Krusty's Comeback Special", which also included other guest stars such as the
Red Hot Chili Peppers*Has a species of
rabbit named in his honor (
Sylvilagus palustris hefneri)
*
Miller, Russell (1985).
Bunny: The Real Story of Playboy. London: Corgi. ISBN 0030637481.
*
Hefner Turns 80*
Profile of Hefner from
Playboy Enterprises corporate site (page does not contain nudity)
*
Bunnyhood, article*
Hugh Hefner: The Ultimate Lifestyle Entrepreneur (
About.com Entrepreneurs)
* "
Brilliant Careers: Hugh Hefner" (
Salon.com,
December 28,
1999)
*
tombi.com*"
Hugh Hefner: He swings. He misses." (
Slate,
July 21,
2000)
*
Bio and Pictures
