Hugh Hefner
Hugh Marston Hefner, or, more usually, Hugh M. Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) 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.