Hugh Hefner | |
|---|---|
Hefner in November 2010 | |
| Born | Hugh Marston Hefner (1926-04-09)April 9, 1926 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | September 27, 2017(2017-09-27) (aged 91) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Cardiac arrest and sepsis complicated by respiratory failure and E. coli infection |
| Resting place | Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery[1] |
| Alma mater | University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign(B.A.) |
| Occupation(s) | Businessman, magazine publisher |
| Known for | Editor-in-chief of Playboy magazine, chief creative officer of Playboy Enterprises |
| Political party | Independent |
| Board member of | Playboy Enterprises |
| Spouse(s) | Mildred Williams (m. 1949; div. 1959)Kimberley Conrad (m. 1989; div. 2010) |
| Partner(s) | Barbi Benton(1969–76) Brande Roderick(2000–01) Holly Madison(2001–08) Bridget Marquardt(2002–09) Kendra Wilkinson(2004–08) |
| Children | 4, including Christie Hefner |
| Website | Playboy.com |
Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was the founder of Playboy Magazine and its Editor-in-Chief.[2]
Hefner was born into a Methodist family, to Glenn Hefner, an accountant, and Grace (Swanson) Hefner, a teacher, on April 9, 1926 in Chicago, Illinois. He was raised in Woodlawn, Chicago. Hefner served in the US Army (1944 - 1946). He attended the Art Institute of Chicago (1946), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, earning a BA in psychology (1949), and Northwestern University, 1949.[2]
Hefner married Mildred Williams (June 25, 1949 - 1959, divorced); Kimberley Conrad (July 1, 1989 - September 2009, divorced); and Crystal Harris (December 31, 2012 - 2017, his death).[2]
Hefner has several children. With Mildred, he has David Paul (August 30, 1955) and Christie Ann (November 8, 1952). With Kimberley, he has Cooper Bradford (September 4, 1991) and Marston Glenn (April 9, 1990).[2]
Hefner was a distant relative of George W. Bush and John Kerry.[3]
Hefner owned a multi-million mansion called the Playboy Mansion. He was also the executive producer of Roman Polanski's 1971 movie version of Macbeth.[4] Hefner also appeared in cameos of himself in some movies.
When nude photographs of Jayne Mansfield on the set of Promises! Promises! were published in the June 1963 issue of Playboy, Hefner was brought into Chicago city court on obscenity charges.[5][6]
In 2013, Hefner announced that his youngest son, Cooper, would succeed him and eventually help run the Playboy Empire.[7]
Hefner supported legalizing same-sex marriage. He said that a fight for gay marriage is "a fight for all our rights. Without it, we will turn back the sexual revolution and return to an earlier, puritanical time."[8]
Hefner owned a burial plot next to Marilyn Monroe's grave in Los Angeles.[2]
Hefner died at his home in Beverly Hills, California on September 27, 2017 after suffering from a cardiac arrest and sepsis caused by respiratory failure and an e. coli infection the age of 91.[9]