Hugh Hefner
Hugh Marston Hefner, or, more usually, Hugh M. Hefner (April 9, 1926) entered the American cultural scene as the founder and editor of Playboy magazine[1] in November 1953. His original $8,000 investment soon mushroomed into a multimillion dollar entertainment empire now known as Playboy Enterprises, Inc. By the 1960s Playboy was selling several million copies a month. Following his very successful publishing venture, Hefner created a one-of-a-kind lifestyle for himself that, to some, resembled an enchanted world: The Playboy Mansion. Hefner described his vision for Playboy as "a wish book devoted to men's dreams and fantasies. When I moved into the Playboy Mansion," he went on to say, "I began living out those fantasies." [2] For over fifty years now, even though its circulation has retreated sharply from its previous highs, Playboy magazine has remained a popular fixture on magazine shelves, and Hefner’s own personal life created a unique American phenomenon emulated by only a few of his publishing contemporaries such as Bob Guccione and Larry Flynt.
Bibliography
Hefner, Hugh M. and Bill Zehme, Hef's Little Black Book (New York:HarperEntertainment, 2004).
Playboy, January 2004 [50th anniversary issue: includes historical information of Playboy, including a photographic reprint of every single cover since the first issue.]
Saginor, Jennifer. Playground: A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion (New York: Harper, 2005).
St. James, Izabella. Bunny Tales: Behind Closed Doors at the Playboy Mansion (New York: Running Press, 2006).
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