Hugh Hefner

Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy magazine, which he expanded into an empire that encompassed television, digital communications and music, died Sept. 27. He was 91.

Launched in 1953, Playboy grew into the largest men’s magazine in the world, selling more than 7M copies per month in 1971,

By 2015, the year that Playboy broke from its legacy by deciding not to publish photos of fully nude women, the magazine’s circulation was just 800,000, ranking it No. 2 in the second best-selling title in the men’s magazines category, behind Maxim.

While best-known for images of scantily clad women, Playboy also included writing from a who’s who of literature: Jack Kerouac, John Updike, Kurt Vonnegut, Joseph Heller, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Margaret Atwood, among many others.

In addition, the “Playboy Interview,” which made its debut when Alex Haley interviewed Miles Davis for the magazine in 1962, featured a wide range of political and cultural figures, from Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., to Tina Fey and Steve Jobs.

Hefner also brought the Playboy brand to television. He hosted two programs, “Playboy’s Penthouse,” which ran from 1959-61, and “Playboy After Dark,” which aired from 1969-70. Both shows took the form of parties at Hef’s house and served to publicize the lifestyle associated with the magazine.

He also was a master at using the brand the magazine established to sell a wide range of products, from t-shirts and baseball caps to a line of wines.

In addition to running Playboy Enterprises, Hefner also campaigned against what he saw as American puritanism. His support of abortion rights, decriminalization of marijuana and the repeal of 19th-century sex laws may have been daring at the time, but as society changed his position entered the cultural mainstream.

“My father lived an exceptional and impactful life as a media and cultural pioneer and a leading voice behind some of the most significant social and cultural movements of our time in advocating free speech, civil rights and sexual freedom," said Cooper Hefner, Playboy’s chief creative executive. “He defined a lifestyle and ethos that lie at the heart of the Playboy brand, one of the most recognizable and enduring in history.”