HUGH HEFNER, Humanitarian, Rebel (and other facts you may not know about him)

[Ann Dandridge Public Relations]

Hugh M. Hefner received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Los Angeles Press Club

Hugh M. Hefner, the legendary editor-in-chief and founder of Playboy Magazine, received a lifetime achievement award from the Los Angeles Press Club (A non-profit organization with 501(c)(3) status Tax ID 01-0761875) at its

4th Annual National Entertainment Journalism Awards Gala on THURSDAY, November 17, 2011

"Hefner's footprint on American popular culture is huge," says LA Press Club President Will Lewis. "For almost 60 years, Playboy has been on the leading edge in shaping positive attitudes on civil rights, gay rights—as well as human sexuality."

Under Hefner’s guidance the magazine has championed first amendment rights for ordinary citizens as well as journalists. Since 1979, when the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards were established, more than 100 Americans have been honored for their efforts in preserving the freedoms of speech and of the press.

Among his many contributions to the arts are the legendary Playboy Jazz Festival, substantial donations to USC Annenberg film programs and at the Gala, the Press Club will also hand out plaques honoring entertainment journalists across the nation who work on all media platforms.

HUGH HEFNER rescued the Hollywood sign (twice)!

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https://www.facebook.com/KVALnews/photos/a.182242253281.125404.4654...

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Dr. Jerry Buss RIP & Hugh Hefner of PLAYBOY  

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Ruta Lee, Hugh Hefner Mr. Wonderful & Crystal

Mr. Wonderful HUGH M. HEFNER was Honored by THE THALIANS
Saturday, April 30,2011 $1,000 per person (Fundraiser)

 Marilyn Monroe

PLAYMATE DANCERS 

 

Pat Lacey (L), PLAYBOY Bunny and Bunny Mother --

The Los Angeles Playboy club was located at 8560 Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood. Photograph caption dated June 29, 1986 reads, "Bunny mother Pat Lacey is flanked by bunnies, from left, Lisa Larkin, Ava Alexander, Sam and Julie Merrill

PAT LACEY is an Extraordinary Woman!

Ann Dandridge Creator of POWERFUL PEOPLE and FRIENDS

 

Hef with first ever Bunny of the Year, Gina Bryams - Chicago, 1970 #TBT Photo: HMH Archive

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1970 Bunny of the Year Gina Bryams 

Darine Stern, who in 1971 became the first black woman to have a solo cover

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3270236/Playboy-announces-n... 
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MORE about HUGH HEFNER of PLAYBOY

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[Ann Dandridge Public Relations]

Hefner’s heir takes Playboy throne in May

Posted by Gardner Royce - Staff Writer on March 11, 2013 in A&E | View Comments - See more at: http://www.thepantheronline.com/a-e/hefners-heir-takes-playboy-thro...

As he slips into the crowded Old Towne Orange Starbucks, senior film production major Cooper Hefner relaxes a bit. There, he doesn’t have to worry about being noticed. He’s anonymous among the bustling throng of college students.

It’s something new for the youngest son of Playboy creator Hugh Hefner. He grew up a celebrity and emerged an heir.

“It was awesome because as a teenager in the Playboy mansion I snuck into some of the most exclusive parties in the entire world,” he said. “But you’re also very isolated because not that many people can relate to you.”

While Hefner’s older brother Marston Hefner shied away from that experience, the younger Hefner took it head-on, and is now the heir of the Playboy enterprises. This responsibility, he said, is his chance to re-introduce the magazine to a modern audience.

Following his graduation in May, Hefner will inherit Playboy and start running the company with the continued help of his father and advisors.

Founded in 1953 by Hugh Hefner, Playboy grew from a small magazine to one of the most circulated publications in the 1970s by featuring pictures of nude women next to articles written by some of the most famous authors of the times. It also gained fame for Hefner’s stance on social justice from Playboy interviews with figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.

As a child, the youngest Hefner said that he felt most comfortable around other celebrity children like the Hiltons and Nicholsons who were regulars at the mansion. He said his best friend growing up was Scout Willis and they remain friends even today.

“They were my first friends because they were really the only people who understood my life,” he said. “We were just kids and happened to be celebrity children.”

Part of that childhood was understanding how to deal with the pressure of being famous. Hefner said he learned most by watching his friend Paris Hilton’s fall from grace.

“Seeing what happened to her when she started flaunting her wealth made me realize what I never wanted to become,” he said. “You don’t earn respect by what you’re given. You earn it by what you do.”

Another close influence that Hefner said kept him out of the spotlight was his mother Kimberley Conrad. In 1989, the 26-year-old Playboy bunny married 63-year-old Hugh Hefner and the couple raised Cooper and his brother Marston before separating ten years later. Still, Hefner said that his childhood was much tamer than most people imagine and that his parents intentionally kept him out of the spotlight.

Yet even the protection of his mother couldn’t guard him from the perils that come with a celebrity lifestyle, and Hefner said as he grew older he noticed how people treated him differently after they learned his last name.

While he said this made him more cautious, his close friends like freshman strategic and corporate communication major Gunnar Helman still described him as friendly. Helman, who went to high school with Hefner, said the Playboy heir is like an older brother to him.

“He’s like a grown-up child and always wants to have fun,” Helman said. “He would always make sure that everyone could be involved in everything he planned.”

One person that Hefner said he had complete trust and admiration for was his father, the polarizing and celebrated creator of Playboy.  Hefner said he never understood what Playboy was until he more recently came across his father’s journal and learned the history behind the bunny ears.

“My dad kept all these amazing photos of him with Martin Luther King Jr. and other people who fought for civil rights and justice,” he said. “Back then Playboy changed the world with its activism.”

Armed with an idealistic mind, Hefner said it’s his duty to change the current perception of Playboy and introduce what his father tried to do 40 years ago. Hefner said that while the Playboy brand has always been 50 percent sex, the other 50 percent used to be about activism and political relevance. However, he said all of that was lost when “The Girls Next Door” started to represent Playboy instead of the activism he believed in.

“My generation was introduced to Playboy as blonde hair and fake boobs,” he said. “There was an out-of-touch moment when the people who ran the company didn’t understand what our generation was attracted to.”

Hefner said his vision is to market Playboy toward a modern audience that is attracted to intellectual women who are comfortable with their sexuality. A key part of this is for Hefner to establish himself as an individual and not just a younger Hugh Hefner.

“I am not my father,” he said. “Although I don’t have a business degree, I have a fresh set of eyes that can make Playboy relevant again to a market that thinks of it as a brand of yesterday.”

However, as Hefner starts to talk about the famous writers who have written for Playboy, it’s easy to see traces of the elder Hefner who spent his life trying to make Playboy famous for more than just its centerfolds.

In the meantime, Hefner is still faced with the daunting task of deciding between a vanilla or caramel latte.  In this moment, he is just like any other young college student – with an unimaginable future before him.

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Hugh Hefner  Click here http://www.nndb.com/people/413/000022347/

The Big Bunny on it's first flight with @HughHefner in 1970.  Photo: ©Playboy ©HMH Archives

https://twitter.com/hughhefner

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Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hugh M. Hefner and Wilt Chamberlain at The Playboy Mansion West, 1977

 

 

 Barbie Benton

PLAYBOY IN THE 60's/70's (Hugh Hefner tribute)

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THE CAPTAIN HAS TURNED OFF THE “NO DÉCOLLETAGE” SIGN Hugh Hefner and several employees on the tarmac in Los Angeles following the opening of that city’s Playboy Club, 1965. Believe it or not, says one former Bunny, putting on the uniform was “liberating.” Courtesy of Playboy.

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SHIRLEY JONES * Beautiful Legend  

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The Ladies who built Playboy and made it an Empire

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Click below: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Hefner

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Dick Gregory & Hugh Hefner 2011

Deborah Satterwhite & Dick Gregory 2011 (pictured below)

(Ann Dandridge Note - Dick Gregory is a Protege of

my Client Dr. Alvenia Fulton)

Deborah Satterwhite & Berry Gordy of MOTOWN

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MORE about Jackie Wilson  Click here  http://j.mp/1m76rMz

Jackie Wilson, Entertainer

 

 

Zelda Wynn Valdes, Black Fashion Designer

IN THE RISE OF HER CAREER, HUGH HEFNER UTILIZED HER TALENTS AND HIRED HER TO DESIGN THE FIRST PLAYBOY BUNNY COSTUME IN THE 1950s.

SHE DESIGNED THE UNIFORMS OF THE DANCE THEATER OF HARLEM.

SHE HELPED WITH THE FORMATION OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FASHION AND ACCESSORIES

(AN ORGANIZATION OF BLACK DESIGNERS)

 

MORE about Zelda Wynn Valdes  Click here   

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Hugh Hefner  Click here  https://www.facebook.com/hughhefner/photos_stream

The Ladies who built Playboy and made it an empire

I Adore NAOMI CAMPBELL! Click here  http://anndandridgepublicrelations.ning.com/profiles/blogs/naomi-ca...

 

Jayne Kennedy  Click here  http://www.nndb.com/people/094/000069884/