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Hugh Hefner

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Hugh Hefner
Hefner in 2007.
Born (1926-04-09) April 9, 1926 (age 98)
Chicago, Illinois
Occupation(s)Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises, Editor-in-chief of
Playboy magazine
Spouse(s)Mildred Williams (1949–1959)
Kimberley Conrad (1989-separated in 1999)
ChildrenChristie Hefner (b.1952)
David Hefner (b.1955)
Marston Hefner (b.1990)
Cooper Hefner (b.1991)
Websitewww.playboyenterprises.com

Hugh Marston Hefner (born April 9, 1926) is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.[1]

Early life

Hefner was born in Chicago, Illinois, the oldest of two sons born to Grace Caroline (née Swanson) and Glenn Lucius Hefner. He went to Sayre Elementary School and Steinmetz High School, then served in the U.S. Army. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.[2]

Working as a copywriter for Esquire, he left in January 1952 after being denied a $5 raise. In 1953, he lent his furniture for $600 and raised $8,000 from 45 investors - including $1,000 from his mother ("Not because she believed in the venture," he told E! in 2006. "But because she believed in her son") - to launch Playboy. The undated first issue, published in December 1953, featured Marilyn Monroe from her 1949 nude calendar shoot. Hefner, who never met Monroe, owns the crypt next to hers. [3]

Private life

File:Hefner 1973 .jpg
Hefner at a party at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, 1973
Hefner posing with Karissa Shannon, Dasha Astafieva, and Kristina Shannon for Playboy's 55th Anniversary Party at One Sunset, West Hollywood, CA on Dec. 12, 2008

Hefner married Northwestern University student Mildred Williams in 1949. They had two children, Christie and David (born August 30, 1955). [4] Before the wedding, Mildred confessed that she had had an affair while he was away in the Army; he called the admission "the most devastating moment of my life." A 2006 E! True Hollywood Story profile of Hefner revealed that Mildred allowed him to sleep with other women, out of guilt for her infidelity and in the hopes that it would preserve their marriage. They divorced in 1959.

Hefner remade himself as a sophisticated bon vivant and man about town, a lifestyle he promoted in his magazine and two TV shows he hosted, Playboy's Penthouse (1959–1960) and Playboy After Dark (1969–1970). He admitted to being "'involved' with maybe eleven out of twelve months worth of Playmates" during these years. [5] Donna Michelle, Marilyn Cole, Lillian Müller, Patti McGuire, Shannon Tweed, Brande Roderick, Barbi Benton, Karen Christy, Sondra Theodore, and Carrie Leigh - who filed a $35 million alimony suit against him - were a few of his many partners. In 1971, he acknowledged that he experimented in bisexuality.[6]

In 1989, he married Playmate of the Year Kimberley Conrad, and had two sons, Marston (born April 9, 1990), Cooper (born September 4, 1992). The E! True Hollywood Story profile noted how the notorious Playboy Mansion had been transformed into a family-friendly homestead. However, after he separated from Conrad in 1999, Hefner began to move an ever-changing coterie of very young women into the Mansion, dating up to seven girls at once; among them, Brande Roderick, Izabella St. James, Tina Marie Jordan, Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt, and Kendra Wilkinson. The reality television series The Girls Next Door depicted the lives of Madison, Marquardt, and Wilkinson at the Playboy Mansion. He currently dates 19 year old identical twin models Karissa and Kristina Shannon, [7] who were arrested in January 2008 for battery [8] along with third girlfriend Crystal Harris [9] According to an article posted on lasvegasweekly.com, Marquardt stated that she was in fact single. [10]

Politics and philanthropy

Hefner has espoused a liberal/libertarian stance. On June 4, 1963, he was arrested for selling obscene literature after an issue of Playboy featuring nude shots of Jayne Mansfield was released. A jury was unable to reach a verdict.

His former secretary, Bobbie Arnstein, was found dead in a Chicago hotel room after an overdose of drugs in January 1975. Hefner called a press conference to allege that she had been driven to suicide by narcotics agents and federal officers. Hefner further claimed the Government was out to get him because of Playboy's philosophy and its advocacy of more liberal drug laws. [unbalanced opinion?]

The Hugh Hefner First Amendment Award was created by Christie Hefner "to honor individuals who have made significant contributions in the vital effort to protect and enhance First Amendment rights for Americans." He has donated and raised money for the Democratic Party. [11]

Hefner donated $100,000 to the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts to create a course called "Censorship in Cinema", and $2 million to endow a Chair for the study of American film. [12]

Hefner also contributes to charities outside the sphere of politics and publishing, throwing fundraiser events for Much Love Animal Rescue, as well as Generation Rescue [13], an autism research organization supported by Jenny McCarthy.

Financial difficulties

The Age reported in October 2008 that Hefner is selling tickets to his famous, celebrity-filled parties for the first time ever to offset cash-flow problems due to setbacks Playboy Enterprises has suffered, including decreasing Playboy circulation, decreasing stock value, and ventures that have yet to turn a profit. [14]

References

  1. ^ Playboy Enterprises Inc. Corporate Officers
  2. ^ HUGH M. HEFNER, Playboy Enterprises. Accessed January 2, 2009.
  3. ^ Westwood Village Memorial Cemetery
  4. ^ Playboy Time Line.
  5. ^ Acocella, Joan. "The Girls Next Door." New Yorker, March 20, 2006
  6. ^ "Faces of the Week." BBC News. May 26, 2006
  7. ^ Party's over for Playboy king Hugh Hefner The Age October 18, 2008. Accessed October 30, 2008
  8. ^ Hef's teenage twins busted for battery The Age October 18, 2008. Accessed October 30, 2008
  9. ^ "Meet Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's other girlfriend, Crystal Harris."
  10. ^ http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/blogs/luxe-life/2008/dec/23/morning-call-exclusive-and-photo-gallery-em-girls-/
  11. ^ Tapper, Jake. "Hef in a Huff." Salon.com, August 11, 2000
  12. ^ Hefner Gives $2M to USC Film School, Associated Press, November 16, 2007.
  13. ^ "Hugh Hefner & Jenny McCarthy Fund Autism Research". Celebrity Halo. October 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |access date= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ Party's over for Playboy king Hugh Hefner The Age October 18, 2008. Accessed October 30, 2008

Further reading

  • Watts, Steven (2008). Mr. Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-69059-7.
  • Miller, Russell (1985). Bunny: The Real Story of Playboy. London: Corgi. ISBN 0-03-063748-1.
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