Hugh Hefner – The man who helped usher in 1960s sexual revolution

Mumbai: Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, who helped usher in the 1960s sexual revolution with his groundbreaking men`s magazine and built a business empire around his libertine lifestyle, died on Wednesday at the age of 91, Playboy Enterprises said.

Hefner, who helped steer nudity into the American mainstream founded Playboy in 1953 with $600 and built the magazine into a multimillion-dollar entertainment empire. At its 1970s peak, it included TV shows, a jazz festival and a string of Playboy Clubs whose cocktail waitresses wore bunny ears and cottontails.

He made a unique style statement by wearing silk pajamas and was a huge hit among women who dared to bare and emerge bolder.

He was full of life and exuberance. "Life is too short to be living somebody else`s dream," read a quote from Hefner, whose trailblazing brand played a major role in the 20th century`s shifting attitude towards sexuality.

A trend-setter of sorts, Hefner played a pivotal role in changing people’s perception towards nudity and sexuality.

"I would like to be remembered as somebody who has changed the world in some positive way, in a social, sexual sense, and I`d be very happy with that," Hefner told CNN in an earlier interview

"I`m never going to grow up," Hefner said in a CNN interview when he was 82.

That perhaps summarises the visionary man’s journey.

(With agency inputs)