Hugh Hefner Dies At 91, Will Be Buried Next To Marilyn Monroe
Photo Credit: Playboy
Hugh Hefner, the icon behind “Playboy” that revolutionized and popularized an entire industry, dies at 91. Bought plot next to Marilyn Monroe.
“Best life ever,” is one way to describe Hugh Hefner. After all, he did date some of the most beautiful women ever, created an empire, and made silk pajamas office appropriate—in his world at least.
On Wednesday, Sept. 27 Playboy Enterprises announced his death just three months before the 64 year anniversary of the publication. He died of natural causes at age 91 inside the Playboy Mansion.
His son Cooper Hefner, Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises, said in the statement:
“My father lived an exceptional and impactful life as a media and cultural pioneer and a leading voice behind some of the most significant social and cultural movements of our time in advocating free speech, civil rights and sexual freedom. He defined a lifestyle and ethos that lie at the heart of the Playboy brand, one of the most recognizable and enduring in history. He will be greatly missed by many, including his wife Crystal, my sister Christie and my brothers David and Marston, and all of us at Playboy Enterprises.”
The entrepreneurial jump he took was thanks to being denied a $5 raise at Esquire where he was a copywriter at the time. He took out a $600 mortgage loan and $8,000 from 45 investors, one including his mother for $1,000, to publish the first issue.
“Not because she believed in the venture, but because she believed in her son,” he told E! in 2006.
You must remember that it’s 1953. A time when just two years earlier the bikini was banned from the Miss World beauty pageant competition. That same year in December Hefner published the first issue of Playboy with Marilyn Monroe on the cover and as the magazine’s first centerfold.
“Hugh Hefner already has his final resting place picked out and paid for: a crypt next to Marilyn Monroe’s in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles,” reported Charles McGrath of The New York Times.
His last Instagram post urged his followers to join him in helping those affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma by donating to One America Appeal.
The Playboy Instagram account paid their respects remembering Hefner with a quote.
American Icon and Playboy Founder, Hugh M. Hefner passed away today. He was 91. #RIPHef A post shared by Playboy (@playboy) on
He was a free speech and civil rights activist, daringly and fearlessly original, and a giant in journalism and publishing. “Here’s looking at you kid.”
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