Playboy Founder Hugh Hefner Passes at 91

Hugh Hefner, the man that broke all the social rules in the late 50s and 60s, creating a vast empire designed to objectify women, has died at his Playboy mansion in Los Angeles at the age of 91.

Hugh Hefner was born in Chicago in 1926, his parents deeply religious; some say the catalyst for his rebellion. 1953 he borrowed just under $10,000 to publish his first Playboy issue, leaving the date off of the cover, in case it didn’t sell right away.

By the early 60s, Playboy magazine was selling over 60,000 copies each month (an unqualified hit in the 60s of publishing) filling a need for repressed men, in the era of black and white television, each yearning to have Rob and Laura Petrie as neighbors. Playboy Clubs began to spring up in the largest of cities through the 60s, extending the Playboy brand and revenue streams for Hugh and his investors.

Through the 80s and 90s, Playboy magazine’s subscription levels began to taper, primarily through competition and the evolution of the internet, forcing Playboy to extinguish all physical copies a few years ago.

Hugh had been married three times, fathering four children, including Christie who took over the Playboy business reins in the 2000s. Hugh Hefner, entrepreneur, publisher, and man about town, is dead at the age of 91.

—
Photo credit: oe Seer / Shutterstock.com