Hugh Marston Hefner joined the army after graduating from High School and, after discharge, studied art at the Chicago Art Institute. He then worked for various magazines, including Esquire, but when the magazine moved its offices to New York, Hefner remained in Chicago to start his own magazine.

The first issue of Playboy magazine, featuring a now-famous photograph of Marilyn Monroe, was produced on a kitchen table in his apartment.

Hitting newsstands in December 1953, it carried no cover date because Hefner was not sure when or if he would be able to produce another. But the first issue sold more than fifty thousand copies. Thus began the impressive life of Hefner and his globally notorious magazine.

Hefner has been married twice, and has three children. His daughter Christie joined her father's editorial staff, and now holds the title of Chairman of Playboy.

Epitomising the lifestyle promoted by his magazine, he has also had a long line of mistresses. His girlfriends have included several Playboy Playmates of the Year, such as Marilyn Cole, Lillian Muller, and Patty MacGuire.

Hefner, now seventy eight, currently lives with seven blonde mistresses, whose ages range from eighteen to twenty eight. He told Vanity Fair magazine, "And here's the surprise bit, it's what they want!"

He purchased the crypt in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, California beside Marilyn Monroe, so as to be interred next to her.

Credit: thebiographychannel.co.uk