Hugh Marston "Hef" Hefner (born April 9, 1926) is an American magazine publisher, founder and
Chief Creative OfficerA chief creative officer is the highest ranking position of the creative team within a company. This position is responsible for the overall look and feel of all materials, media, and branding associated with the organization...
of
Playboy EnterprisesPlayboy Enterprises, Inc. is a privately held global media and lifestyle company founded by Hugh Marston Hefner to manage the Playboy magazine empire. Its programming and content are available worldwide on television networks, Websites, mobile platforms and radio...
.
Early life
Hefner was born in Chicago, Illinois, the elder of two sons born to Grace Caroline (née Swanson; 1895–1997) and Glenn Lucius Hefner (1896–1976), both teachers. Hefner's mother was of Swedish descent and his father had German and English ancestry. On his father's side, Hefner is a direct descendant of Plymouth governor William Bradford. He has described his family as "conservative, Midwest, Methodist." He went to Sayre Elementary School and Steinmetz High School, then served as a writer for a military newspaper in the U.S. Army from 1944 to 1946. He later graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign with a
B.A.A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in
psychologyPsychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
with a double
minorAn academic minor is a college or university student's declared secondary field of study or specialization during his or her undergraduate studies. As with an academic major, the college or university in question lays out a framework of required classes or class types a student must complete to...
in
creative writingCreative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
and
artArt is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
in 1949, earning his degree in two and a half years. Hugh was a member of Delta Chi Fraternity. After graduation, he took a semester of graduate courses in
sociologySociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
at
Northwestern UniversityNorthwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
but dropped out soon after.
Career
Working as a copywriter for
EsquireEsquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
, he left in January 1952, after being denied a $5 raise. In 1953, he mortgaged his furniture, generating a bank loan of $600 (or $800—he cannot recall which) and raised $8,000 from 45 investors—including $1,000 from his mother ("Not because she believed in the venture," he told
E!E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...
in 2006, "But because she believed in her son.")—to launch
PlayboyPlayboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
, which was initially going to be called
Stag Party. The undated first issue, published in December 1953, featured
Marilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
from her 1949 nude calendar shoot and sold over 50,000 copies. (Hefner, who never met Monroe, bought the
cryptIn architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
next to hers at the
Westwood Village Memorial Park CemeteryThe Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery is a cemetery in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles, California. It is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood....
.)
After it was rejected by
Esquire magazine in 1955, Hefner agreed to publish in
Playboy the
Charles BeaumontCharles Beaumont was a prolific American author of speculative fiction, including short stories in the horror and science fiction subgenres. He is remembered as a writer of classic Twilight Zone episodes, such as "The Howling Man", "Miniature", and "Printer's Devil", but also penned the...
science fiction short story, "The Crooked Man," about straight men being persecuted in a world where homosexuality was the norm. After receiving angry letters to the magazine, Hefner wrote a response to criticism where he said, "If it was wrong to persecute heterosexuals in a homosexual society then the reverse was wrong, too." Hefner is portrayed as a gay rights pioneer in the documentary film,
Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and RebelHugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel is a 2010 documentary film directed by Brigitte Berman about Hugh Hefner, creator of Playboy magazine...
.
On June 4, 1963, Hefner was arrested for selling obscene literature after an issue of
Playboy featuring nude shots of
Jayne MansfieldJayne Mansfield was an American actress working both in Hollywood and on the Broadway theatre...
was released. A jury was unable to reach a verdict.
His former secretary, Bobbie Arnstein, was found dead in a Chicago hotel room after an overdose of drugs in January 1975. Hefner called a press conference to allege that she had been driven to suicide by narcotics agents and federal officers. Hefner further claimed the government was out to get him because of
Playboy philosophy and its advocacy of more liberal drug laws.
In 2009, Hefner talks about making a film about his life. He has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of FameThe Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
for television and has made several movie appearances as himself. In 2010, he received a "worst supporting actor" nomination for a Razzie award for his performance in
Miss MarchMiss March is a 2009 comedy film directed by and starring Trevor Moore and Zach Cregger, stars of the IFC show The Whitest Kids U' Know. The film was released in the United States on March 13, 2009.- Plot :...
.
A documentary by Brigitte Berman,
Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and RebelHugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel is a 2010 documentary film directed by Brigitte Berman about Hugh Hefner, creator of Playboy magazine...
was released on July 30, 2010. He had previously granted full access to documentary filmmaker and television producer
Kevin BurnsKevin Burns is an American television and film producer, director, and screenwriter. His work can be seen on A&E, National Geographic Channel, E!, Animal Planet, AMC, Bravo, Travel Channel, Lifetime, and The History Channel.-Early life:...
for the A&E Biography special, Hugh Hefner: American Playboy in 1996.
Hefner and Burns later collaborated on numerous other television projects, most notably on
The Girls Next DoorThe Girls Next Door, also known as The Girls of the Playboy Mansion, is an American reality television series broadcast on the E! cable television network...
, a reality series that ran for six seasons (2005-2009) and 90 episodes.
In 1999, Hefner financed the
Clara BowClara Gordon Bow was an American actress who rose to stardom in the silent film era of the 1920s. It was her appearance as a spunky shopgirl in the film It that brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl." Bow came to personify the roaring twenties and is described as its leading sex...
-documentary,
Discovering the It-girl. "Nobody has what Clara had. She defined an era and made her mark on the nation," he stated.
Personal life
Hefner married Northwestern University student Mildred Williams (born March 10, 1926) in 1949. They had two children,
Christie (born November 8, 1952) and David (born August 30, 1955). Before the wedding, Mildred confessed that she had had an affair while he was away in the Army. He called the admission "the most devastating moment of my life." A 2006
E! True Hollywood StoryE! True Hollywood Story is an American documentary series on E! that deals with famous Hollywood celebrities, movies, TV shows and well-known public figures...
profile of Hefner revealed that Mildred allowed him to sleep with other women, out of guilt for her infidelity and in the hopes that it would preserve their marriage. They divorced in 1959.
Hefner remade himself as a bon vivant and
man about townIn humans, promiscuity refers to less discriminating casual sex with many sexual partners. The term carries a moral or religious judgement and is viewed in the context of the mainstream social ideal for sexual activity to take place within exclusive committed relationships...
, a lifestyle he promoted in his magazine and two TV shows he hosted,
Playboy's PenthousePlayboy's Penthouse is an American variety / talk television show hosted by Playboy founder and then-editor/publisher Hugh Hefner. It was first broadcast on October 24, 1959 and ran in syndication for slightly more than one year with a second season starting on September 9, 1961 with Jack E...
(1959–1960) and
Playboy After DarkPlayboy After Dark is an American television show hosted by Hugh Hefner. It ran in syndication through Screen Gems from 1969 to 1970 and was taped at CBS Television City in Los Angeles....
(1969–1970). He admitted to being involved' with maybe eleven out of twelve months' worth of Playmates" during some of these years.
Donna MichelleDonna Michelle was the adopted name of Donna M. Ronne, an American model, actress, and photographer. She was Playboy magazine's December 1963 Playmate of the Month and 1964 Playmate of the Year. Her centerfold was by Pompeo Posar and Edmund Leja...
,
Marilyn ColeMarilyn Cole was Playboy magazine's January 1972 Playmate of the Month. She was the magazines's first full-frontal nude centerfold, although her pubic hair was partly covered by the shadow cast from the book in her hand, so the first clearly full-frontally nude Playmate of the Month was Bonnie...
,
Lillian MüllerLillian Müller is a Norwegian model and an actress in motion pictures and television.A 5 times "Page Three Girl" with her first appearance in January 1974, Müller achieved her major breakthrough after being spotted by Suze Randall, who photographed her Playboy cover and pictures in her Playmate...
,
Shannon TweedShannon Lee Tweed is a Canadian actress and model. One of the most successful actresses of mainstream erotica, she is identified with the genre of the erotic thriller...
,
Brande RoderickBrande Nicole Roderick is an American model and actress known for her appearances in Baywatch and Playboy.-Personal life:...
,
Barbi BentonBarbi Benton is an American model, actress and singer.-Career:She was featured on the cover of Playboy several times and in nude photo layouts in the March 1970, December 1973, and January 1975 issues, although she was never one of the magazine's "Playmates of the Month".Benton is known for her...
, Karen Christy,
Sondra TheodoreSondra Theodore is an American model and actress. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its July 1977 issue. Her centerfold was photographed by Ken Marcus...
, and Carrie Leigh—who filed a $35 million
palimonyPalimony is a popular term used to describe the division of financial assets and real property on the termination of a personal live-in relationship wherein the parties are not legally married. The term is a portmanteau of the words pal and alimony...
suit against him—were a few of his many lovers. In 1971, he acknowledged that he experimented in
bisexualityBisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
. He moved from Chicago to Los Angeles.
Hefner had a minor stroke in 1985 at age 59. After re-evaluating his lifestyle, he made several changes. The wild, all-night parties were toned down significantly and in 1988, daughter Christie began to run the Playboy empire. The following year, he married Playmate of the Year
Kimberley Conrad-Personal life:She is probably best known for marrying Playboy founder Hugh Hefner in July 1989, an event which sparked worldwide media attention. The comic strip Doonesbury referred to the event as the belated end of the 1970s. The Hefners had two sons together: Marston Glenn Hefner and Cooper...
. The couple had two sons, Marston Glenn (born April 9, 1990) and Cooper Bradford (born September 4, 1991). The
E! True Hollywood Story profile noted that the notorious
Playboy MansionThe Playboy Mansion is the home of Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner. Located in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles, California, the mansion became famous during the 1970s through media reports of Hefner's lavish parties.-History:The house is described as being in the "Gothic-Tudor" style...
had been transformed into a family-friendly homestead. After he and Conrad separated in 1998, Conrad moved into a house next door to the mansion.
Hefner then began to move an ever-changing coterie of young women into the Mansion, even dating up to seven girls at once, among them,
Brande RoderickBrande Nicole Roderick is an American model and actress known for her appearances in Baywatch and Playboy.-Personal life:...
, Izabella St. James,
Tina Marie JordanTina Marie Jordan is an American glamour model and actress.Jordan grew up in Los Angeles with seven sisters and two brothers. She tried many career paths, including college, business school, and cosmetology school, and was working as a loan processor and trying to get her real estate license when...
,
Holly MadisonHollin Sue Cullen, professionally known as Holly Madison, is an American model, showgirl and television personality. She is widely known for being one of Hugh Hefner's girlfriends on the reality television series The Girls Next Door...
,
Bridget MarquardtBridget Marquardt is an American television personality, model, and actress. She is best known for her role on the reality television series The Girls Next Door, which depicts her life as one of Playboy magazine publisher Hugh Hefner's girlfriends...
, and
Kendra WilkinsonKendra Leigh Baskett , professionally known by her maiden name, is an American television personality and glamour model...
. The reality television series
The Girls Next DoorThe Girls Next Door, also known as The Girls of the Playboy Mansion, is an American reality television series broadcast on the E! cable television network...
depicted the lives of Madison, Wilkinson and Marquardt at the Playboy Mansion. In October 2008, all three girls made the choice to leave the mansion. Hefner was quick to rebound and soon began dating his new "Number One" girlfriend,
Crystal HarrisCrystal Harris is an American glamour model, singer, and television personality. She was the Playboy Playmate of the Month for December 2009. On December 24, 2010, she became engaged to Hugh Hefner, to become his third wife. Harris broke off the engagement on June 14, 2011, five days before their...
, along with 20-year-old
identical twinA twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be monozygotic , meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.In contrast, a fetus...
and models Kristina and Karissa Shannon. The relationship with the twins ended in January 2010. After an 11-year separation, Hefner filed for divorce from Conrad stating irreconcilable differences. Hefner has said that he only remained married to her for the sake of his children, and his youngest child had just turned 18. The divorce was finalized in March 2010. On December 24, 2010, Hefner presented an engagement ring to Crystal Harris, publicly announcing the proposal the following day. Hefner and Harris had planned to marry June 18, 2011. Harris called off the wedding just 5 days before they were due to be wed.
Politics and philanthropy
The Hugh Hefner First Amendment Award was created by Christie Hefner "to honor individuals who have made significant contributions in the vital effort to protect and enhance First Amendment rights for Americans."
He has donated and raised money for the
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
. However, he has more recently referred to himself as an Independent, due to disillusionment with both the Democratic and Republican Parties.
In 1978, Hefner helped organize fund-raising efforts that led to the restoration of the
Hollywood SignThe Hollywood Sign is a landmark and American cultural icon in the Hollywood Hills area of Mount Lee, Santa Monica Mountains, in Los Angeles, California. The sign spells out the name of the area in and white letters. It was created as an advertisement in 1923, but garnered increasing recognition...
. He hosted a gala fundraiser at the Playboy Mansion and personally contributed $27,000 (or 1/9 of the total restoration costs) by purchasing the letter Y in a ceremonial auction.
Hefner donated $100,000 to the
University of Southern CaliforniaThe University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
's
School of Cinematic ArtsThe USC School of Cinematic Arts, until 2006 named the School of Cinema-Television , is a film school within the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. It is the oldest and largest such school in the United States, established in 1929 as a joint venture with the Academy of...
to create a course called "Censorship in Cinema," and $2 million to endow a chair for the study of American film.
Both through his charitable foundation and individually, Hefner also contributes to charities outside the sphere of politics and publishing, throwing fundraiser events for Much Love Animal Rescue, as well as
Generation RescueGeneration Rescue is a nonprofit organization that advocates the view that autism and related disorders are primarily caused by environmental factors, particularly vaccines. These claims are biologically implausible and lack convincing scientific evidence...
, a controversial autism campaign organization supported by
Jenny McCarthyJennifer Ann "Jenny" McCarthy is an American model, comedian, actress, author, activist, and game show host. She began her career in 1993 as a nude model for Playboy magazine and was later named their Playmate of the Year. McCarthy then parlayed her Playboy fame into a successful television and...
.
On April 26, 2010, Hefner donated the last $900,000 sought by a conservation group for a land purchase needed to stop the development of the famed vista of the
Hollywood SignThe Hollywood Sign is a landmark and American cultural icon in the Hollywood Hills area of Mount Lee, Santa Monica Mountains, in Los Angeles, California. The sign spells out the name of the area in and white letters. It was created as an advertisement in 1923, but garnered increasing recognition...
.
Further reading
- Watts, Steven (2008). Mr. Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-69059-7.
- Miller, Russell
Russell Miller is an award-winning British journalist and author of fifteen books, including biographies of Hugh Hefner, J. Paul Getty and L. Ron Hubbard.-L. Ron Hubbard biography:...
(1985). Bunny: The Real Story of Playboy. London: Corgi. ISBN 0-03-063748-1.
- St. James, Izabella (2006). Bunny Tales: Behind Closed Doors at the Playboy Mansion. Philadelphia: Running Press. ISBN 0-762-42739-6
- Hefner, Veronika and Jurij Toplak (2009). Hefner, Hugh. In: Vile, John R., Hudson, David L., and Schultz, David Andrew (Eds.). Encyclopedia of the First Amendment. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, p. 564.
External links