Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy magazine, has died at the age of 91.
He was, says the Los Angeles Times, “the incurable playboy who built a publishing and entertainment empire on the idea that Americans should shed their puritanical hang-ups and enjoy sex”.
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The magazine, which at its peak sold more than six million copies a month, provoked a feminist backlash in the 1960s and, more recently, sales plummeted as the internet cornered the porn market.
Nevertheless, Hefner “amassed a fortune estimated to be worth $43 million and became a pop culture icon, appearing in episodes of The Simpsons, Sex and The City, and in a reality TV show about the women at his Playboy Mansion,” reports the ABC.
Cooper Hefner, Hugh's son, paid tribute last night. “My father lived an exceptional and impactful life as a media and cultural pioneer,” he said, “and a leading voice behind some of the most significant social and cultural movements of our time in advocating free speech, civil rights and sexual freedom.”