Playboy King Hugh Hefner is dead

The man behind Playboy magazine, Hugh Hefner, died on Wednesday. He was 91 years old.

Hugh Marston Hefner died of natural reasons in his own home, writes news agency Reuters. Playboy Enterprises confirms this.

The 91-year-old lived in a luxury residence called The Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, California. He bought the house in 1971 for 1.05 million dollars. In 2016 he sold the property to his neighbour, but had disposal of the entire property until his death.

Hefner, who was nicknamed “Hef”, was born in Chicago in 1926 in a middle class home as the first child of parents, both of whom were teachers. During World War II, he wrote for a military newspaper.

Playboy

The very first issue of Playboy came on sale in December 1953, with Marilyn Monroe as the first playmate. Later, stars like Sharon Stone, Cindy Crawford and Kim Basinger have undressed for the magazine.

The first edition was with 44 pages, and sold in a circulation of 54,175 at a price of 50 cents per edition.

– Before us, no one had sex, we invented sex, he said about the magazine born on the founder’s kitchen table and became the core of his business empire.

honoured

Hefner, as many will remember wearing a red dressing gown with a pipe in his hand, is honoured on the magazine’s website. A big portrait of the Playboy King adorns the website along with the text “Life is too short to live someone else’s dream.”

Next to the nude pictures, the magazine has featured well-written articles by major authors such as James Baldwin, John Cheever, Nadine Gordimer, Joyce Carol Oates and Isaac Bashevis Singer.

Hefner was married to former playmate Crystal Harris. She was Hefner’s third wife. He leaves four children behiond from previous marriages.