Hugh Hefner honoured with lifetime achievement award

London: Playboy Magazine founder Hugh Hefner has been honoured with a lifetime achievement award for his lengthy publishing career.

85-year-old Hefner, who launched the adult magazine in 1953, received the prize at the Los Angeles Press Club’s fourth annual National Entertainment Journalism Awards Gala on Nov 17. “Hefner’s footprint on American popular culture is huge,” the Daily Express quoted Press Club President Will Lewis as saying. “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,” he added. Hefner was spotted with his son Cooper and girlfriend Anna Sophia Berglund, as well as his comedian pal Dick Gregory, who gave a speech in his honour at the award ceremony. “The LA Press Club’s Lifetime Achievement dinner proved to be a really special, quite emotional evening for me,” the veteran publisher posted on Twitter. “The Lifetime Achievement Award had even more meaning because family and friends were there to share the night. “Dick Gregory’s personal tribute was the real highlight of the evening for me. He flew across the country to be here,” he said. ANI