Hugh Hefner Dies

There are some pop-cultural figures who changed the world as we know it…And no matter your thoughts on him, Hugh Hefner did that.

The sexual revolution of the sixties probably wouldn’t have looked the same way without him either,  that’s for sure.

Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Magazine, which published its first issue in 1953, was at the vanguard of the enormous waves of social and cultural changes that erupted from the staid post World War II era and changed America as we know it today.

Men’s magazines had crudely trafficked in nude women before, but Hefner’s erotic vision targeted mainstream readership and mainstream distribution.

Would the word ‘playboy,’ even be in common usage today without Hugh Hefner?   We doubt it.

How about centerfold?

Hefner cultivated an image and a lifestyle that was larger than life. And like rock music in its prime, he challenged the social order.

J Edgar Hoover hated him, as did Gloria Steinem and so many of the feminists she inspired.

 He was excoriated by religious organizations and denounced by political figures around the world.

But the world changed anyhow, and Hefner’s Playboy continued to explore and celebrate those societal changes for decades.

Over time other publishers pushed the sexual envelope and the Playboy centerfold began to look more sugary and less daring.

But in spite of media’s changing landscape, Hefner’s Playboy Magazine remained the most successful men’s publication in the world.

It also evolved into a leading voice for anti-censorship which featured the likes of Vladimir Nabokov, Kurt Vonnegut, John Lennon, Malcom X, James Baldwin, John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre.

Hefner’s company branched into movie, cable and digital production. He introduced his own line of clothing and expanded his brand worldwide through his clubs, resorts and casinos.

A handsome figure often pictured smoking a pipe and clad in silk pajamas at the Los Angeles Playboy mansion he moved to in 1975.  Hefner imaged himself as the embodiment of his “Playboy Philosophy.”

He and his magazine spoke to personal liberation and championed important social causes like civil rights and gay rights.

But just as rock stars age…so did Playboy Magazine and Hugh Hefner

His brand became dated and faded over the years and by 2015 its magazine sales plunged to about 800,000.

With time Hefner became a cliché of himself…And in later years, the sight of him embracing some young Hollywood starlet became increasingly uncomfortable.

Although Hefner was accused repeatedly throughout his career of objectifying and degrading women, he remained a one-of-a-kind American presence.

And he died today at the age of 91, no doubt in his silk pajamas, and will be buried in a Hollywood cemetery next to Marilyn Monroe, Playboy’s first cover model.

Hugh Hefner Image credit: Wikipedia and Playboy Enterprises