Hugh Hefner, founder of the iconic Playboy magazine and resident of the famous Playboy mansion in Los Angeles, died Monday of natural causes. He was 91.
Vanity Fair reports that the media mogul died at his home.
Hefner was born in Chicago on April 9, 1926. After graduating from high school, he served two years in the U.S. Army and took classes at the Art Institute of Chicago before attending the University of Illinois. Hefner edited the humor magazine at UI and introduced a “Coed of the Month” feature.
It was getting denied a $5 raise as a copywriter for Esquire that led Hefner to create Playboy magazine in his Chicago apartment in 1953 at a cost of $8,000. The magazine’s first issue, which featured a then-unknown Marilyn Monroe as the centerfold, sold almost 54,000 copies at 50 cents each.
Beyond the magazine, his members-only Playboy clubs were the largest entertainment employer for nearly two decades.
Hefner remained an iconic figure throughout his life and well into his elder years, appearing on the E! reality series Girls Next Door, which ran for six seasons beginning in 2005 and focused on his life living with his multiple girlfriends at the Playboy mansion.
Among his survivors are his wife, Crystal Harris.
Rest in pussy, Hef.