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Subject: Re: Hugh Hefner - Playboy Biography - Hugh Marston Hefner was born in Chicago on April 9, 1926, | |
Author: ANGELAWARNER | [ Next Thread |
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] Date Posted: 20:13:03 06/24/06 Sat Author Host/IP: cache-rtc-ad04.proxy.aol.com/152.163.100.198 In reply to: David Harrison Levi for the David Levi Celebrity Entertainment NEWS Network 's message, "Hugh Hefner - Playboy Biography - Hugh Marston Hefner was born in Chicago on April 9, 1926," on 01:08:00 04/05/06 Wed > >Hugh Marston Hefner was born in Chicago on April 9, >1926, the older son of conservative Protestant >parents, Glenn and Grace Hefner, and a direct >descendent of distinguished Massachusetts Puritan >patriarchs William Bradford and John Winthrop. He >attended Sayre Elementary School and Steinmetz High on >the West Side of Chicago, where he was no more than an >average student, despite a genius IQ (152), >distinguishing himself instead with his >extracurricular activities, founding a school paper, >writing, cartooning and serving as president of the >student council, where he championed student causes. >Following graduation from high school in January 1944, >Hef (a nickname preferred since adolescence) joined >the army serving as an Infantry Clerk and drawing >cartoons for various Army newspapers. After his >discharge from service in 1946, he spent the summer >taking art classes (anatomy, of course) at the Chicago >Art Institute, enrolling that fall at the University >of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana. Hef earned his >bachelor's degree in two and a half years by doubling >up on classes while drawing cartoons for the Daily >Illini and editing the campus humor magazine Shaft, >where he introduced a new feature called Coed of the >Month. > >He subsequently took a semester of graduate courses in >sociology at Northwestern University where, pursuing >his interest in individual freedom, he wrote a term >paper examining U.S. sex laws in light of the >then-astonishing Kinsey Institute research on human >sexuality. > >In June 1949, Hef married a classmate, Mildred >Williams. Their ten-year marriage produced two >children: Christie in 1952 and David in 1955. > > Following college, Hef tried his hand at cartooning >and, failing to sell any of his ideas for a cartoon >strip, published a book of satirical cartoons about >Chicago titled That Toddlin' Town. > >Hef worked as an assistant personnel manager for the >Chicago Carton Company for $45 a week in 1949 and as >an advertising copywriter for the Carson, Pirie, Scott >department store for just $40 a week in 1950. His >future seemed uncertain when he landed a promising job >as a promotion copywriter at Esquire at $60 a week in >January 1951. When Esquire moved its offices to New >York, his request for a five-dollar raise was denied, >and he decided to stay behind and start a magazine of >his own. > >Hef and a fellow copywriter from Esquire tried to >raise enough capital to launch a Chicago magazine and >failed. While working as the newsstand promotion >director of Publishers Development Corporation in >1952, he became convinced there was a market for a >sophisticated men's magazine that would reflect the >views of the post-War generation and he was the man to >start it. > >To support his family, he took a better-paying job as >circulation manager of Children's Activities magazine >in January 1953, but that spring and summer the dream >of starting his own magazine became an obsession. He >found a printer willing to print the first issue and a >distributor to distribute it. He got friends and >family to invest in the venture, raising just $8000, >including $600 of his own money borrowed from a bank >using his family's furniture as collateral. > >The first issue of Playboy magazine, featuring the >now-famous calendar photo of Marilyn Monroe, was >produced on a kitchen table in his South Side >apartment. On the newsstands in December 1953, it >carried no cover date because Hef was not sure when or >if he would be able to produce another. But the first >issue sold more than 50,000 copies, enough to pay for >the paper and printing costs and to finance another >issue. > >Thereafter, Hef never doubted that the magazine would >be a success. He plowed profits back into the >publication and hired a young, enthusiastic editorial, >art, promotion and advertising staff to assist him. >Playboy grew at a phenomenal rate. By the end of the >decade, the magazine was selling more than a million >copies a month and, to celebrate, Hef held the first >Playboy Jazz Festival at the Chicago Stadium. It was >called, at the time, the greatest single weekend in >the history of jazz. > >At the start of the new decade, Hef began to live out >the "Good Life" depicted in the pages of his >publication. He hosted a popular syndicated television >show called Playboy's Penthouse, purchased the Playboy >Mansion at 1340 North State Parkway, and opened the >first Playboy Club on the Near North Side of Chicago >on February 29, 1960. > >Throughout the Sixties, Hef and Playboy became what >Chicago columnist Bob Greene has called "a force of >nature." Hef wrote an extended series of editorials >titled "The Playboy Philosophy," championing the >rights of the individual and challenging the country's >heritage of puritan repression. The magazine became >the largest-selling, most influential men's magazine >in the world. > >By 1971, when Playboy Enterprises went public, the >magazine was selling 7 million copies a month and >there were 23 Playboy Clubs, resorts, hotels and >casinos with more than 900,000 members worldwide. The >corporation also included book publishing, >merchandising, a modeling agency, a limousine service, >a record label and a TV and motion picture company. It >was truly an empire ruled by one man. > >Hef hosted a second syndicated television show, >Playboy After Dark, taped in Hollywood in 1968 and >1969, and in 1970 acquired the famed black Big Bunny >jet, a DC-9 from McDonnell Douglas, in which he >regularly commuted between Chicago and California, and >toured the world. > >In 1971, he established a second residence in Los >Angeles with the acquisition of a five-and-one-half >acre estate in Holmby Hills, which quickly became >known as Playboy Mansion West, where he was able to >more closely supervise Playboy Enterprises' increasing >interests in television and film production. > >In 1975, Hef decided to make Los Angeles his permanent >home, reflecting the extent to which Hollywood movies >had influenced his dreams and aspirations as a boy. In >1980, Hef championed the reconstruction of the >Hollywood sign (then in serious disrepair) and was >honored with a star on the Hollywood walk of fame for >his efforts. In saving the sign, Hef referred to it as >"Hollywood's Eiffel Tower." The Hollywood Chamber of >Commerce honored him further, with its First Annual >Hollywood Hall of Fame Award as Outstanding Citizen of >the Year. > >The Hollywood sign restoration was only one of Hef and >Playboy's major projects as a part of the Hollywood >creative community. The company produced such features >as Roman Polanski's Macbeth, distributed by Columbia >Pictures, which was voted Best Picture of the Year in >1971 by the National Board of Review of Motion >Pictures; Monty Python's first film, And Now For >Something Completely Different; Peter Bogdanovich's >Saint Jack; and The Naked Ape, with Universal Studios. > >Playboy also produced such popular television movies >as Third Girl From The Left, with Kim Novak and Tony >Curtis; The Death of Ocean View Park; The Cop and the >Kid; and A Whale For The Killing. > >The increasingly conservative Eighties took their toll >on both Hef and his company. In 1985, he suffered a >stroke that changed the direction of his life. He >referred to it at the time as "a stroke of luck." > >Bringing his life full-circle, the world's most famous >bachelor was married on July 1, 1989 to Kimberley >Conrad, Playboy's 1989 Playmate of the Year. Their >fairy tale courtship resulted in an uncommonly >romantic wedding ceremony conducted at the wishing >well at Playboy Mansion West where Hef proposed. Their >first son, Marston Glenn, was born on Hef's birthday, >April 9, 1990, and their second son Cooper Bradford, >was born on September 4, 1991. The Hefners are >currently separated, and Mrs. Hefner and the boys live >on an estate adjacent to the Playboy Mansion in Los >Angeles. > >Since the mid-Eighties, daughter Christie Hefner has >served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of >Playboy Enterprises, but Hef continues to serve as the >magazine's editor-in-chief, plays a key role in >determining the path of Playboy Enterprises and >directs other areas of the corporation including cable >television and video production. > >Hollywood and cinema continue to be major factors in >Hef's personal and professional life. At his >direction, the Playboy Foundation instituted the >Freedom of Expression Award, given annually at the >Sundance Film Festival. Hef recently underwrote the >West Coast retrospective of the late British filmmaker >Dennis Potter's works at the Los Angeles Museum of >Contemporary Art; he personally endowed a course in >Censorship in Cinema at USC, at which he serves as a >guest lecturer; and, he has been a major contributor >to UCLA's project to restore classic films. > >Hef was a sponsor of the acclaimed "American Cinema" >series on PBS, and he has long been active in seeking >out and restoring such vintage films as Vitaphone >shorts and the films of Twenties British crooner Al >Bowlly. > >In 1994, Hef established and Playboy founded the >Playboy Jazz Film Festival, the first-ever showcase on >the West Coast for many of the best and rarest films >in the jazz lexicon. This event was in addition to the >annual Jazz on Film program traditionally presented >free to the public by Playboy on the eve of the >Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl, which is >now in it's 22nd consecutive year. > >On March 28, 1996, Hef was honored in formal >ceremonies at the University of Southern California >for his lifelong dedication to film and his endowment >of a chair for the Study of American Film at the >University's School of Cinema-Television. The Hefner >gift marked only the second such endowment in the >history of the prestigious film school. The other >chair was endowed in memory of the late Steve Ross, >who had served as chairman of Time-Warner. > >Hef's personal archive at the Playboy Mansion in >Holmby Hills contains more than 4000 feature films. >Each weekend, he screens films at the Mansion for >celebrities and personal friends. Each Sunday is a >first-run feature. Friday nights are vintage classics. >Often, Saturday nights are a mini-festival of silent >films. > >Hef has frequently been quoted as believing that the >United States' most important export is "the American >Dream," which he feels is conveyed to the world >through motion pictures. > >Hef has profoundly influenced society in the second >half of the 20th Century during which his publication >has been the world's best-selling men's magazine. > >Frequently interviewed by major news and entertainment >media the world over, in 1996 he was the subject of an >extraordinary two-hour profile, Hugh Hefner: American >Playboy on the A&E Network's prestigious Biography >series. He had previously been the subject of a >feature length documentary film, Hugh Hefner: Once >Upon A Time, produced by Lynch/Frost Productions and >distributed by IRS Releasing. After its first run in >theaters, the film became a popular addition to many >international film festivals and continues to attract >new viewers on cable television and home video in the >U.S. and on broadcast, cable and satellite-delivered >television around the world. > >More recently, he was the subject of a one-hour >"Celebrity Profile" on the E! Entertainment Television >Network and a half-hour "People in the News" >installment on CNN. > >In 2000, Hef guest-starred on an episode of HBO's Sex >and the City, and in 2001, he appeared in the 1000th >episode of NBC's Just Shoot Me. In addition to >numerous ongoing national and international television >appearances, Hef has been the subject of a host of >recent print profiles in publications including Vanity >Fair, Rolling Stone, Esquire, The New York Times, the >Los Angeles Times, Time magazine and the Times of >London. In 2000, the city of Chicago honored Hef by >renaming a downtown street after him, and two days >later Hef rang the closing bell at the New York Stock >Exchange. In 2001, Hef was immortalized in silicone at >the Hollywood Wax Museum and roasted by the New York >Friars Club. > >The recipient of a number of awards for his >contributions to society in general and the publishing >industry in particular, Hef received the 1996 >International Publishing Award from the International >Press Directory in London and was inducted into the >Hall of Fame of the American Society of Magazine >Editors at its 1998 ceremonies in New York. > >Most recently, Hef has become a fixture on the >Hollywood celebrity club scene and the Mansion has >once again become a mecca for entertainment industry >superstars including a new wave of young motion >picture and television celebrities, rock groups and >more. > >His dreams are soon expected to reach the large screen >theatrically in a feature film. TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: I AM TRULY HOPEING THAT THIS LETTER REACHES MR. HEFNER I HAVE BEEN A HUGE FAN OF MR HEFNER ALL OF MY LIFE. I NEVER WANTED TO BE IN THE MAGAZINE,BUT HAVE ALWAYS ENJOYED AND RESPECTED THE LADIES IN THE PICTURES ETC.. MR HEFNER AND I ARE BOTH BORN UNDER THE SIGN OF ARIES. MINE IS APRIL THE 5TH, HIS AS YOU KNOW IS APRIL THE 9TH. I WAS WATCHING THE BIO CHANNEL ABOUT IS LIFE AND FOUND OUT THAT ONCE A WEEK HE WILL SHOW OLD MOVIES AND SPEEK ABOUT THE FLIMS BEING SHOWN. I LOVE OLD MOVIES TOO. I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT OLD HOLLYWOOD. SO, MUCH SO THAT I WROTE A SONG ABOUT THE STARS WHO ARE NO LONGER WITH US IN BODY. I CALLED IT STARS IN TIME.THIS SONG WON 1ST PLACE IN A SINGER-SONGWRITER CONTEST IN 2001. I WOULD LOVE TO GIVE MR HEFNER A COPY I'M SURE HE WOULD LOVE IT. IF YOU CAN DO ANYTHING TO HELP ME FORWARD MY SONG TO MR. HEFNER I WOULD BE VERY GREATFUL. AND THANKFUL PLEASE TRY AND GET BACK TO ME WHEN YOU CAN THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR TIME ANGELA WARNER [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |