Playboy founder Hugh Hefner dead at 91

Hefner died at his home of natural causes last night surrounded by family

Playboy magazine founder and sexual revolution symbol Hugh Hefner has died. He was 91.

The magazine released a statement saying Hefner died at his home of natural causes last night surrounded by family.

Founding the magazine in 1953, Hefner built a brand that defined the sexual culture of the second half of the 20th century.

Playboy's buxom models were the objects of millions of men's fantasies as Hefner challenged what he derided as America's "Puritanical" attitudes toward sex.

For decades, he was the pipe-smoking, silk-pajama-wearing center of a constant fantasy party at Playboy mansions in Chicago and then in Los Angeles.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. Photo: Reuters