Playboy founder Hugh M. Hefner died in the Playboy Mansion at age 91 on Wednesday, ABC News reported. The magazine, who has been popular for more than six decades, started a sexual revolution in the 1950s.

Lifestyle of the Playboy creator

Since he was 9, Hefner drew cartoons and started publishing a neighborhood newspaper. He also worked for some magazines before starting his own one.

He embodied the Playboy lifestyle after leaving his spouse and children. According to Hefner, he had sex with more than 1000 women, most of them celebrities and Playboy models.

He took part in various reality shows, in which he found new girls. Six years ago, Hefner said, "I never really found my soulmate."

In a TV reality show “The Girls Next Door” aired in the 2000s, Hefter said that he had a harem of seven young blondes at his legendary Playboy Mansion, due to Viagra which he took for his libido.

32 years ago, Hefner suffered a mild stroke, and his daughter Christie took the control of his empire. Last year, his son Cooper took the creative control over the magazine. Hefner remained to be the CEO up to 2009. Hefner owns a burial plot next to Marilyn Monroe in Los Angeles.

The popularity of Playboy magazine

The first Playboy issue was published in 1953. With a nude photo of actress Marilyn Monroe, which Hefner featured for $500, the issue became a hit.

20 years after publishing the first Playboy issue, Playboy attracted 7 million readers and became famous worldwide, although Hefner had been permanently criticized by feminist and religious leaders, who claimed that he was a pornographer.

With the time, Hefner spread his brand with a bunny logo buying clubs, festivals, casinos, a cable network, and a film production company.

His clubs, famous for erotic costumes of waitresses with bunny ears and tails, were opened around the world. Describing his magazine, Hefner said that “I always thought of it as a lifestyle magazine in which sex was one important ingredient.”

Playboy magazine represented the ultimate bachelor lifestyle and had a warning for women, who may have possibly found it at home, that the magazine was not for females' eyes.

Playboy published not only erotic photos, but also articles and short fiction by famous writers, tackling social issues, as well as interviews with high-profile figures like Martin Luther King Jr., John Lennon, and Muhammad Ali. Playboy is still popular around the world and takes the second place among men's magazines after Maxim, founded in 1995.
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