Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, the robe-clad, pipe-smoking avatar of the sexual revolution who grew his erotic publication into a multimedia empire, died at his famed Los Angeles mansion on Wednesday. He was 91.
“My father lived an exceptional and impactful life as a media and cultural pioneer and leading voice behind some of the most significant cultural movements of our time in advocating free speech, civil rights and sexual freedom,” said Cooper Hefner in a statement that added his father died of natural causes.
Born in Chicago in 1926, Hugh Hefner started on a journey that would change the very way Americans looked at sex when he borrowed $8,000 in 1953 to start publishing Playboy magazine.
At a time when states could legally ban contraceptives, when the word “pregnant” was not allowed on “I Love Lucy,” Hefner’s first issue included nude photos of Marilyn Monroe.
The magazine was no simple smut mag, however, and it gained a reputation for sophistication, with long-form journalism and fiction by the likes of John Updike, Vladimir Nabokov and Ray Bradbury.
Hefner took pride in making sure the magazine contained more than centerfolds of naked Playboy Playmates.
In 1976, then-presidential candidate Jimmy Carter confided to the mag that he had “committed adultery” in his heart.
The magazine also interviewed the likes of Fidel Castro, Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando, and gave a start to such comedians as George Carlin, Rich Little, Mark Russell, Dick Gregory and Redd Foxx.
Within a year of its founding, Playboy had a circulation of 200,000, and by the 1970s, it had reached 7 million, its bunny-ear logo as familiar as McDonald’s golden arches.
In addition to the magazine, Playboy over the years included a TV show, videos and, of course, nationwide Playboy Clubs.
“Hef” reveled in his role as sexual pioneer. He claimed to have had sex with more than a thousand women — some of whom appeared in his magazine
He was married three times — including as recently as 2012 to former Playmate Crystal Harris — and had four children, including daughter Christie Hefner, who ran his empire until 2009.
With wire services