Hugh Hefner Says 50th Anniv... May 07, 2009 04:57:37 But Holly wasn't the only one with a good sense of humor, the ultimate playboy himself Mr. Hugh Hefner proved that 83 years epitomized by perennial partying ...View Full Article
Exclusive: Hugh Hefner Want... May 07, 2009 04:57:37 And although Mr. Hefner still considers himself the ultimate playboy and has lived (and continues to live) a life beyond what most men could even d...
Playboy worth more than mee... May 07, 2009 04:57:37 But a look inside the company's books shows that founder and Editor-in-Chief Hugh Hefner may be sitting on assets worth at least that much. ...View...
Hugh Hefner selling abode n... May 07, 2009 04:57:37 Mr. Hefner, 82, is one of the most well-known American magazine publishers of the past 50 years and the founder of Playboy Enterprises, Inc. He fam...
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Mr Hugh Hefner Biography
Hefner grew up "in a very typically Midwestern Methodist repressed home" with "no show of affection of any kind". He went to SayreElementary School, and Steinmetz High School, then served in the U.S. Army during the closing months of WWII.
After his service, he majored in psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and resumed his relationship with Mildred Williams. Despite spending less than three years in college before graduating, Hefner foundtime to edit the magazineShaft, and sold cartoons to magazines. His first salaried job was with a firm that produced and printed cardboard cartons.
In 1949, Hefner also completed a semester of graduate courses in sociology at Northwestern University where he wrote a term paper examining U.S. sex laws in light of the newly published KinseyInstitute research on male human sexuality (according to the Playboy website). Hugh Hefner graduated from the University of Illinois in 1949 with a major in psychology and a double minor in creative writing and art. He claims that some of the ideas for the Playboy magazine came while he was a student there.
After serving in the subscription department and as a copywriter for Esquire, he left in January 1952 after being denied a $5 raise. He worked at Children's Activities, then took his biggest gamble in 1953 by lending his furniture for $600 and raising $10,000 from 45 investors - including $1,000 from his mother ("Not because she believed in the venture," he told E! in 2006. "But because she believed in her son.") - to launchPlayboy.
In 1953, the idea of the centerfold came about because of the need for a copy machine in the magazine's offices. A female employee named Charlaine Karalus made the request, with Hefner offering to purchase it if the well-endowed Karalus would pose naked. Accepting the offer, Karalus became "Janet Pilgrim" in the July issue and started the centerfold tradition that continues to the present.
Hefner was involved in his first legal dispute concerning pornography in 1958 when he, a teenager named Elizabeth Ann Roberts, and her mother were arrested in Chicago after photos of Roberts appeared in Playboy. After authorities realized that Hefner had been told she was 18 years old, charges of contributing to the delinquency of a child were dropped.
Branching out
At its peak, Playboy sold more than 5,200,000 issues each month. Hefner's concept exploded as a variety of different avenues opened up. A late-night television program, "PlayboyAfter Dark," premiered, conversation among urbane guests its main selling point. In addition, the show featured prominent African-American performers. These singers and musicians, as well as comedians such as Lenny Bruce and Dick Gregorymade the show a unique viewing experience.
In 1960, Hugh Hefner opened up the first PlayboyClub in Chicago, which featured women in bunny costumes serving drinks to customers who listened to many of the same guests that populated Hefner's television show. In less than two years, the number of clubs had expanded to 12, with over 125,000 patrons paying either $25 for a charter membership or $50 for a lifetime membership. During the 1980s, the Clubs folded and Playboy lost its casino licenses in Atlantic City and the UK. Hefner suffered a stroke in 1985. Three years later, he passed control of Playboy's business operations to his daughter Christie. (wikipedia.org)
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