• PHOTOS: Kendra Is a Real Wedding Belle

  People - Found Jul. 2, 2009 "She looks like a Disney princess!" a dapper Hugh Hefner told Kendra Wilkinson ? who was one of the Playboy founder's companions for four years ? ... VIDEO: Kendra Wilkinson from the Bridal Suite to 'I Do' - People Kendra and Hank: The Wedding Video - EOnline.com VIDEO: Kendra Wilkinson from the Bridal Suite to 'I Do' - People A Very Playboy Wedding - Daily Beast Explore All

• Hugh Hefner's bevy of Bunnies through the years revealed

  NewKerala.com - Found Jun. 30, 2009 Washington, June 29 : Popular as the world's most legendary bachelor, Hugh Hefner has had a long string of girlfriends, who have not only bared it TRAGIC CHANGE - New York Post Britney and Miley alive and well - Miami Herald Kendra Wilkinson marries NFL beau - Newsday Kendra Wilkinson ties the knot - NZCity Explore All

  Examiner.com

• Stan Lee cast in 'Iron Man 2'

  Digital Spy - Found Jun. 29, 2009 He also portrayed Hugh Hefner in the first Iron Man film during a red carpet scene. Stan Lee's Iron Man 2 Cameo Revealed - Rotten Tomatoes Stan Lee's Iron Man 2 Cameo - FilmForce Stan Lee?s Iron Man 2 Cameo in the Can? - Wired News Stan Lee to Play Larry King in Iron Man 2 - MovieWeb Explore All

  MovieWeb

• Hugh Hefner's Ex Kendra Wilkinson Weds

  Starpulse - Found Jun. 29, 2009 Wilkinson originally asked Hefner to walk her down the aisle, but she chose her brother to do the honours on the big day. Hefner will be... Kendra and Hank's Wedding Day in Pictures - EOnline.com INSIDE STORY: Kendra Sparkles in a Fairy-Tale Wedding - People MORE CELEBRITY TRAVEL: Kendra Wilkinson - USA Today Eagles' Baskett, Wilkinson off to island honeymoon - Philadelphia Inquirer Explore All

  Monsters and Critics

• Kendra weds at Playboy Mansion

  Chicago Tribune - Found Jun. 29, 2009 Hugh Hefner was there, natch (he and Wilkinson used to 'date,' or 'go out' or 'stay in'). Eddie Van Halen weds Liszewski - Digital Spy Eddie Van Halen Weds - Starpulse Kendra weds at the Mansion - Chicago Tribune Eddie Van Halen marries his longtime girlfriend - KansasCity.com Explore All

  KansasCity.com

• Hugh Hefner - Hefners Ex Wilkinson Weds

  Contactmusic - Found Jun. 28, 2009 Caption: Hugh Hefner (Picture) Celebrities arrive to watch the Los Angeles Lakers game against the Denver Nuggets at the Staples Centre Los Angeles, Kendra Wilkinson Was a 'Princess' Bride, Says Holly Madison - People Kendra Wilkinson, NFL beau are now wed - MSNBC Hef's Ladies: E! Online Fanpage Countdown - EOnline.com Kendra Wilkinson weds at Playboy Mansion - Entertainment Weekly Online Explore All

  Radar

• Hollywood in Mourning: Stars Pay Tribute to Farrah Fawcett

  FOXNews.com - Found Jun. 26, 2009 Hugh Hefner: 'Farrah was one of the iconic beauties of our time. Farrah Fawcett: Photographer Bruce McBroom remembers her iconic ... - Entertainment Weekly Online Michael Jackson & Farrah Fawcett TV Specials Slated - EOnline.com Farrah Fawcett, a Sex Symbol Who Aimed Higher - New York Times APPRECIATION: Bianco: TV made Fawcett the star that she was - USA Today Explore All

  Town Hall

• Kendra's bachelorette party revealed

  Times of India - Found Jun. 25, 2009 Hugh Hefner?s ex-girlfriend Bridget Marquardt has revealed the raunchy sex game details of Kendra Wilkinson's bachelorette party, reportedly held Kendra Wilkinson's Pre-Wedding Spa Party - EOnline.com Kendra Wilkinson Wants Honeymoon Where She Can "Walk Around Naked" - EOnline.com Wish fulfillment: Kennedy Kendra has plans for her theater - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Kendra Wilkinson to honeymoon on private island - AZCentral.com Explore All

  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

• Reality TV romance cursed? Check out the track record

  Chicago Tribune - Found Jun. 24, 2009 HEF AND THE 'GIRLS NEXT DOOR: Hugh Hefner had three times the heartache last year when his closest girlfriends -- Holly Madison... Reality Romance Is Dead: Before Jon & Kate, There Was Jessica And ... - Access Hollywood Reality romance cursed? Check out the track record - NPR Reality romance cursed? Check out the track record - Boston Globe Reality Romance is Dead: Before 'Jon&Kate,' there was Jessica and ... - Metronews Explore All

  Ledger-Enquirer

• Harem Envy

  New York Times - Found Jun. 19, 2009 ... beyond whats been attained in the West, despite the considerable efforts of the Marquis de Sade, Hugh Hefner, the Moonlite Bunny Ranch and the...

Hugh Hefner
Hefner in 2007.
Born	Hugh Marston Hefner April 9, 1926 (1926-04-09) (age 83) Chicago, Illinois, United States
Known for	Being Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises, & Editor-in-chief of Playboy magazine
Spouse(s)	Mildred Williams (m. 1949–1959) «start: (1949)–end+1: (1960)»"Marriage: Mildred Williams to Hugh Hefner" Location: (linkback:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Hefner) (divorced) Kimberley Conrad (m. 1989–present) «start: (1989)»"Marriage: Kimberley Conrad to Hugh Hefner" Location: (linkback:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Hefner) (separated)
Children	Christie Hefner (born 1952) David Hefner (born 1955) Marston Hefner (born 1990) Cooper Hefner (born 1991)
Website Official website

Hefner posing with Karissa Shannon, Dasha Astafieva, and Kristina Shannon for Playboy's 55th Anniversary Party at One Sunset, West Hollywood, CA on December 12, 2008

Hugh Marston Hefner (born April 9, 1926), sometimes known simply as Hef, is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.¹

Early life

Hefner was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1926, the eldest of two sons born to Grace Caroline (née Swanson) (1895-1997) and Glenn Lucius Hefner (1896-1976). He went to Sayre Elementary School and Steinmetz High School, then served in the U.S. Army. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.²

Working as a copywriter for Esquire, he left in January 1952 after being denied a $5 raise. In 1953, he lent his furniture for $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. Hefner, who never met Monroe, owns the crypt next to hers. ³

Private life

Hefner married Northwestern University student Mildred Williams in 1949. They had two children, Christie (born November 8, 1952) and David (born August 30, 1955).⁴ Before the wedding, Mildred confessed that she had had an affair while he was away in the Army; he called the admission "the most devastating moment of my life." A 2006 E! True Hollywood Story profile of Hefner revealed that Mildred allowed him to sleep with other women, out of guilt for her infidelity and in the hopes that it would preserve their marriage. They divorced in 1959.

Hefner remade himself as a sophisticated bon vivant and man about town, a lifestyle he promoted in his magazine and two TV shows he hosted, Playboy's Penthouse (1959–1960) and Playboy After Dark (1969–1970). He admitted to being "'involved' with maybe eleven out of twelve months' worth of Playmates" during these years.⁵ Donna Michelle, Marilyn Cole, Lillian Müller, Patti McGuire, Shannon Tweed, Brande Roderick, Barbi Benton, Karen Christy, Sondra Theodore, and Carrie Leigh - who filed a $35 million alimony suit against him - were a few of his many partners. In 1971, he acknowledged that he experimented in bisexuality.⁶

In 1989, he married Playmate of the Year Kimberley Conrad and had two sons, Marston (born April 9, 1990) and Cooper (born September 1, 1991). The E! True Hollywood Story profile noted that the notorious Playboy Mansion had been transformed into a family-friendly homestead. After he separated from Conrad in 1999, however, Hefner began to move an ever-changing coterie of very young women into the Mansion, dating up to seven girls at once; among them, Brande Roderick, Izabella St. James, Tina Marie Jordan, Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt, and Kendra Wilkinson. The reality television series The Girls Next Door depicted the lives of Madison, Wilkinson and Marquardt at the Playboy Mansion. ⁷

He is currently^when? dating 19-year-old identical twin models Karissa and Kristina Shannon,⁸ along with third girlfriend Crystal Harris.⁹

Hef is in talks about making a film about his life; production may start later in 2009.¹⁰

Politics and philanthropy

Hefner has espoused a liberal/libertarian stance. On June 4, 1963, he was arrested for selling obscene literature after an issue of Playboy featuring nude shots of Jayne Mansfield was released. A jury was unable to reach a verdict. His former secretary, Bobbie Arnstein, was found dead in a Chicago hotel room after an overdose of drugs in January 1975. Hefner called a press conference to allege that she had been driven to suicide by narcotics agents and federal officers. Hefner further claimed the Government was out to get him because of Playboy's philosophy and its advocacy of more liberal drug laws.^{1112opinion needs balancing}

The Hugh Hefner First Amendment Award was created by Christie Hefner "to honor individuals who have made significant contributions in the vital effort to protect and enhance First Amendment rights for Americans."

He has donated and raised money for the Democratic Party.¹³

Hefner donated $100,000 to the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts to create a course called "Censorship in Cinema", and $2 million to endow a Chair for the study of American film.¹⁴

Hefner also contributes to charities outside the sphere of politics and publishing, throwing fundraiser events for Much Love Animal Rescue, as well as Generation Rescue,¹⁵ an autism research organization supported by Jenny McCarthy.

Hefner is an atheist. In an interview published in the January 2000 issue of Playboy, he said, "It's perfectly clear to me that religion is a myth. It's something we have invented to explain the inexplicable."¹⁶

References

Further reading

• Watts, Steven (2008). Mr. Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-69059-7.
• Miller, Russell (1985). Bunny: The Real Story of Playboy. London: Corgi. ISBN 0-03-063748-1.
• St. James, Izabella (2006). Bunny Tales: Behind Closed Doors at the Playboy Mansion. Philadelphia: Running Press. ISBN 0-762-42739-6

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hugh Hefner

• Profile of Hefner from Playboy Enterprises corporate site
• Hugh M. Hefner at the Internet Movie Database
• Hugh Hefner: The Ultimate Lifestyle Entrepreneur (About.com Entrepreneurs
• "Brilliant Careers: Hugh Hefner" (Salon.com, December 28, 1999)
• World Wrestling Entertainment interviews Hugh Hefner (March 14, 2007)