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Hugh Hefner

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Title: Hugh Hefner  
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Subject: Playboy, Miss March, Counterculture of the 1960s, Playboy After Dark, List of Kendra episodes
Collection: 1926 Births, Adult Magazine Publishers (People), American Copy Editors, American Journalists, American Magazine Editors, American Magazine Founders, American Magazine Publishers (People), American Male Journalists, American Methodists, American Military Personnel of World War II, American People of English Descent, American People of German Descent, American People of Swedish Descent, American Political Activists, American Pornographers, American Publishing Chief Executives, American Socialites, Businesspeople from Chicago, Illinois, California Democrats, Copywriters, Counterculture of the 1960S, Free Speech Activists, Lgbt Rights Activists from the United States, Living People, Nightclub Owners, Obscenity Controversies, Participants in American Reality Television Series, Playboy People, School of the Art Institute of Chicago Alumni, University of Illinois Alumni, University of Illinois at Urbana–champaign Alumni
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Hugh Hefner

Hugh Hefner
Hefner attending Glamourcon #50, Long Beach, California on November 13, 2010
Born Hugh Marston Hefner
(1926-04-09) April 9, 1926
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Residence Playboy Mansion, Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California
Education Steinmetz High School
Alma mater University of Illinois (B.A.)
Northwestern University
Occupation Magazine publisher
Known for Editor-in-chief of Playboy magazine, Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises
Home town Chicago, Illinois
Political party
Independent
Board member of
Playboy Enterprises
Spouse(s) Mildred Williams (1949–1959)
Kimberley Conrad (1989–2010)
Crystal Harris (2012–present)
Partner(s) Barbi Benton (1969–1976)
Brande Roderick (2000–2001)
Children Christie Hefner
David Hefner
Marston Hefner
Cooper Hefner
Website
Playboy.com

Hugh Marston Hefner (born April 9, 1926) is an American adult magazine publisher and businessman, the founder and chief creative officer of Playboy Enterprises.[1]

Early life

Hugh Hefner was born in Chicago, Illinois, the older of two sons (himself and brother Keith) of Grace Caroline (née Swanson; 1895–1997) and Glenn Lucius Hefner (1896–1976), both teachers.[2][3] Hefner's mother was of Swedish descent, and his father had German and English ancestry.[4][5] Through his father's line, Hefner has stated that he is a direct descendant of Plymouth governor William Bradford.[6][7] He has described his family as "conservative, Midwestern, [and] Methodist".[8] 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. in psychology with a double minor in creative writing and art in 1949, earning his degree in two and a half years. After graduation, he took a semester of graduate courses in sociology at Northwestern University but dropped out soon after.[9]

Career

Hefner posing in Miami Beach with a Playmate

Working as a copywriter for Esquire, he left in January 1952 after being denied a $5 raise. In 1953, he mortgaged his furniture, generating a bank loan of $600, and raised $8,000 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 launch Playboy, which was initially going to be called Stag Party. The undated first issue, published in December 1953, featured Marilyn Monroe from her 1949 nude calendar shoot and sold over 50,000 copies.[10] (Hefner, who never met Monroe, bought the crypt next to hers at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.[11]

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