For The Love of Sex:

Playboy Founder & Publishing Pioneer

Hugh Hefner Dies at 91

Legendary publisher, Playboy founder and owner of the famed Playboy mansion, Hugh Hefner has died at the age of 91.

Hefner – A True Pioneer

He died on Wednesday September 27th/2017 at his home, his beloved Playboy mansion, near Los Angeles, California.

Playboy Enterprises Inc. announced Hefner died of natural causes.

Hefner the man and Playboy the brand were inseparable.

Playboy and “Hef” as Hugh Hefner was known, were symbols of the sexual revolution. The Playboy brand offered an escape from American prudeness and civil intolerance.

Hugh Hefner regularly invited African American entertainers and hired minority staff members at his mansion.

Playboy began in the 1950s. Segregation was alive and well in many parts of the United States. Hef blew the doors off bigotry.

A Romantic Life At the Mansion

Of course, Hef had his detractors. Many of them vehement. Describing Playboy as vulgar, juvenile, exploitative, and degrading. It seemed Hef was mostly unfazed and unscathed by his critics.

However, Hefner was a huge success from the beginning in the early 1950s. He was 27 years old, married and a new father. Apparently, as he states in several interviews, Hef was as virgin when he married.

The very first Playboy magazine cover in 1953 featured none other than the inimitable Marilyn Monroe.

Hef saw himself and his life, like a romantic movie. Starring an ageless man of means in silk pajamas and smoking jacket, hosting fabulous parties for famous and beautiful people.

Take a look below to see a glimpse into the incredible life of Hugh Hefner. The video below that features one of Hefner’s sons who takes us on a tour of the Playboy mansion.