Hugh Hefner, an American publisher and playboy, died at the age 91 last week.
His death was announced by Playboy Enterprises on Wednesday. The founder of the most iconic and controversial magazine in the world, died of natural causes at his home, Playboy Mansion, in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles.
The Legend Lost
Hugh Hefner was widely perceived as a symbol of sexual revolution and an escape from American properness and social intolerance.
He founded Playboy magazine more than 60 years ago with his own $600 and $1,000 borrowed from his mother and turned it into a $110 billion Playboy Empire. The magazine consists of pictures of nude women and interviews, articles and fiction and non-fiction by Norman Mailer, Alex Haley, Jimmy Carter and Bertrand Russell.
The magazine not only inspired “sexual revolution” in the 1960s and 1970s but also addressed more subjects than just naked women, like politics, literature and culture. The first edition of Playboy monthly magazine was issued staring Marilyn Monroe on its cover in 1953 when Hefner was only 27 years old, a husband and a new father. The rest is history.
He created the most recognizable brand in history and defined a lifestyle and ethos that lie in the Playboy brand, according to his son Cooper Hefner, Playboy Enterprises’ chief creative officer.
“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.”
Crystal Harris Left Out of Will
Hugh is survived by Crystal Harris, his 31-year-old wife whom he had married in 2012. Crystal, a former Playmate, was his third wife and reportedly, won’t inherit a penny after Hefner’s death due to a watertight prenuptial contract.
According to a source, Hefner’s fortune would be split among his four children, several charity organizations and the University of Southern California film school as Crystal was left out of the will.
However, the latest reports claim that Crystal Harris could be in for a piece of the cake after all with a house worth millions of dollars due to the fact the couple never divorced. TMZ reveals Crystal is also left with $5 million in her pocket following Hefner’s death.
Hefner’s most famous sayings were “Life is too short to be living somebody else’s dream” and “The major civilizing force in the world is not religion, it is sex”.
In 2009, Hefner told Los Angeles Times that he wants his ashes at Westwood Memorial Park in LA, in the crypt next to Marilyn Monroe saying “spending eternity next to Marilyn is an opportunity too sweet to pass up”.
