Sleazebag... or a man of principle?
The incredible life of Hugh Hefner
Born into a devout Methodist family and gifted with an IQ of 152, Hugh Hefner was the most unlikely sexual revolutionary. Yet as the creator of Playboy magazine, which was iconic and notorious in equal measure, no one did more to bring sex into the mainstream. And always dressed in his trademark silk pyjamas and smoking jacket, the man known as The Hef played the part well.
But to many, he was a thorn in the side of the feminist movement and an exploiter accused of creepy behaviour.
He died on Wednesday, aged 91, at his Playboy Mansion home in Los Angeles – just five weeks after selling it for £75million with the stipulation that he could live there for the rest of his life.
Son Cooper Hefner said: “My father lived an exceptional and impactful life as a media and cultural pioneer. He will be greatly missed by many, including his wife Crystal, my sister Christie and my brothers David and Marston.”
Those paying tribute included many of the women Hefner catapulted to stardom. Pamela Anderson, 50, said he was a “gentleman” who made the world a “freer and sexier place”, while Kim Kardashian said she was “honoured” to have been part of the Playboy team.
Singer Belinda Carlisle, who posed topless in 2001, said: “Such a sweet kind man – so lucky to have met him.”
Angie Best, a former Playboy Club London Bunny, said: “Hugh tickled our fancy for decades and I thank him for that.” And one of his pals, Star Wars star Mark Hamill, said he defied stereotypes and was “a thoughtful friend”.
But Hefner’s death also sparked criticism. Film writer Alex von Tunzelmann tweeted: “Surely the sexual revolution had more to do with reliable contraception? And Hefner didn’t invent porn. Women, in this scenario, are merely consumables.”
Harvard scholar Laurie Penny said: “Unsure how to feel about Hefner? Make a donation in his name to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.” And South African sports journalist Lunga Biyela posted: “A sleazeball who made millions from objectification of women. How can anyone celebrate him?”
Hefner, born in 1926, used Playboy and its logo of a rabbit in a bow-tie to build a media empire intended to combine porn and intellectualism.
It may have been thought a joke when men talked of “reading” Playboy but it featured stories by literary greats like John Steinbeck, Jack Kerouac and Margaret Atwood. And while many saw his championing of free speech as self-serving, he was also lauded for promoting civil and gay rights.
But when he launched Playboy in 1953, aged 27, FBI boss J Edgar Hoover viewed him as an agent provocateur.
Whatever people said, he forged ahead with his vision. “I’m living a grown-up version of a boy’s dream, turning life into a celebration,” he said in 1967. “It’s all over too quickly. Life should be more than a vale of tears.”
His longtime home, with its infamous grotto, became party central for the Hollywood elite. But it was also
there that he allegedly drugged girlfriends, controlled his Bunnies’ lives, dabbled with homosexuality and ending up living in squalor.
Born Hugh Marston Hefner in Chicago, Illinois, to teachers Grace Caroline and Glenn Lucius Hefner, Hefner detested education.
However, he loved writing and became president of his school’s student council, starting its first newspaper. He then studied psychology and landed a job at Esquire magazine. But after rowing with bosses he decided to set up on his own – and he knew sex would sell. He once said: “The interesting thing is how one guy, through living out his own fantasies, is living out the fantasies of so many.”
After borrowing $8,000 (£5,980) from investors including his mother and brother, he published the first issue of Playboy. At the time, Hefner was a new father married to Mildred Williams, who he said was the first woman he had slept with.
He planned to name the magazine Stag Party but changed his mind at the last minute, taking the Playboy name from a failed car firm to reflect high living and sophistication. To help the launch, Hefner secured a coloured nude photo of Marilyn Monroe to be the centrefold.
The issue sold 50,000 copies and was an instant sensation. Its iconic logo appeared in the second issue. Hefner said in 1967: “The rabbit has a sexual meaning; it’s a fresh animal, shy, vivacious, jumping – sexy.”
By the late 1950s, its circulation eclipsed Esquire and after only five years its annual profit was $4million.
He divorced Mildred in 1959 and ran his empire from his bedroom, working on a round bed that both revolved and vibrated.
Hefner began to plug the magazine and himself as spearheading the sexual revolution in the Swinging Sixties. By the next decade, sales hit their peak at seven million per edition.
Hefner’s personal life then began to imitate those played out on Playboy’s pages – and he would later estimate he slept with more than 2,000 women.
In 1971, he bought the Playboy Mansion and swiftly cemented its legend. But the site became infamous for stories of a dark underbelly.
Ex Holly Madison, who split with him in 2008, said Hefner would send her “creepy”, “reprimanding” letters on her behaviour. And the model claimed in a 2015 book he tried to drug her.
She said Hefner offered her a crumpled tissue containing a Quaalude – the pill allegedly used by his friend Bill Cosby to drug women. She said he responded to the allegation by saying: “You know, in the 70s they used to call these pills ‘thigh openers’.” She also said despite his carefully cultivated image as a ladies’ man, they had only been intimate once.
Hefner was said to demand high standards. In the Playboy Mansion every rule had to be approved by him. They included a 9pm curfew, no “side boyfriends” and that he had sex with everyone he allowed to live there.
Madison added: “Hef ’s girlfriends stood around insinuating girl-on-girl action. Each girl then has a quick turn. It was so brief I can’t even recall what it felt like.” And despite hosting stars including Mick Jagger and Michael Douglas, models described squalid conditions. Hefner’s room had unwashed bedding and broken furniture while once white carpet had turned brown from his dog’s faeces.
Aged 85, Hefner was heartbroken when Crystal Harris, 31, who was raised in West Bromwich, called off their June 2011 wedding five days before the ceremony. They wed a year later and she stayed with him until his death. But a source said third wife Crystal – his second was ex-Playmate Kimberley Conrad – signed an “ironclad” prenup and his estimated £32million estate will be split between his four children, the University of Southern California and charities.
And with the Playboy Mansion party finally over, Hefner will be buried next to Marilyn Monroe in an LA cemetery plot he bought in 1992.
Reflecting on his life at the time, he said: “I’ve spent so much of my life looking for love in all the wrong places.” And six years ago he said: “I never found my soulmate.”
I’m living a grown-up version of a boy’s dream. It’s all over too quickly HUGH HEFNER ON HIS MAG & LIFESTYLE IN 1967
PLAYBOY Hugh Hefner certainly divided opinion but there’s no doubt he lived life to the full.
For him it was one long party surrounded by beautiful women. Where did it all go wrong?