He was the founder and editor-in-chief of Playboy magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles. Hefner extended the Playboy brand into a world network of Playboy Clubs. He also resided in luxury mansions where Playboy Playmates shared his wild partying life, fueling media interest.
Hefner was born in Chicago , on April 9, , [ 2 ] the first child of Glenn Lucius Hefner — , an accountant, and his wife Grace Caroline Swanson Hefner — who worked as a teacher. His parents were from Nebraska. Through his father's line, Hefner was a descendant of Plymouth governor William Bradford.
Hefner graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and a double minor in creative writing and art, having earned his degree in two and a half years. After graduation, he took a semester of graduate courses in sociology at Northwestern University , but dropped out soon after. The first issue was published in December and featured Marilyn Monroe from a nude calendar shoot she did under a pseudonym.
Esquire magazine rejected Charles Beaumont 's science fiction story "The Crooked Man" in , so Hefner agreed to publish it in Playboy. The story highlighted straight men being persecuted in a world where homosexuality was the norm. The magazine received angry letters, so Hefner responded, "If it was wrong to persecute heterosexuals in a homosexual society then the reverse was wrong, too.
Gregory attributed the launch of his career to that night. Hefner promoted a bon vivant lifestyle in his magazine and in the television shows that he hosted, Playboy's Penthouse — and Playboy After Dark — On June 4, , Hefner was arrested for promoting obscene literature after he published an issue of Playboy featuring nude shots of Jayne Mansfield in bed with a man present.
