Results tagged “hughhefner”

Yesterday we wished a happy birthday (and many happy returns of the day) to the Godfather of Modern Sexuality himself, Mr. Hugh Hefner. Today we take a look back to the heady days of the Chicago Playboy Empire, when Hef was but a wee 37 years old.

Love him or loathe him, there's no denying he's one of the most well known media moguls in the world. And he's a local kid! Today, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner turns a young 83. Born in Chicago on April 9, 1926, Heff attended Sayre Elementary School and Steinmetz High School and, after a stint in the U.S. Army, took classes at the Art Institute of Chicago and attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he graduated in less than three years. He also took some graduate courses at Northwestern where he met his first wife. Playboy's first issue saw the light of the world in 1953, produced locally and - according to legend - in Hef's kitchen; it featured Marilyn Monroe. He put on the first Playboy Jazz Festival at the Chicago Stadium and opened the first Playboy Club here. In 1975, after four years of a second residence in California, Hef officially relocated to Los Angeles, but Playboy Enterprises has maintained its headquarters here in Chicago. Happy 83rd, Hef! [Playboy Enterprises - the page is SFW, but the URL probably isn't]

Christie Hefner, Chairman and CEO of Playboy Enterprises and daughter of founder Hugh Hefner, announced today that she'll be stepping down from her posts effective January 31, 2009. 56-year-old Christie assumed leadership of the company in 1988 and bolstered the slumping image the brand had endured in the 1980s. Despite success over the last two decades, revenue from Playboy's magazine circulation and television programming are lagging. Still, Christie insists no one encouraged her to resign. She intends to pursue public service and non-profit work once her tenure has ended. Her proud papa had this to say:

"I asked Christie to step up as president when the company faced serious financial difficulties more than two decades ago. She has worked tirelessly to expand the company's franchise, and, as a result of her efforts, the company today has more consumers and fans than at any time in our history. Of course, as her father, my first priority is Christie's happiness. While I will miss her leadership here, I believe that she will go on to achieve even greater personal success."

Christie plans to keep her homebase here in Chicago, both for herself and for the company. She told the Trib there are no plans to relocate Playboy's headquarters, and as for her and her husband, former Illinois state Sen. William Marovitz:

Billy and I don't want to leave Chicago, so this is going to be home. Whatever I do is going to be done from here. I think it's going to be a mix. I think I'm going to find ways to give back both in the nonprofit side and public service. But I also have enjoyed the board work, the TV commentary and the speaking that I've done. I really don't plan to look for a CEO job. Been there, done that.

Playboy gained new popularity in recent years due in part to the reality TV series Girls Next Door, which features Hef's three live-in girlfriends and has helped the brand connect to young women for the first time. However, the fate of the series is unknown now that Hef has kicked main girlfriend Holly Madison to the mansion curb, and she's now dating illusionist Criss Angel. We're really not sure which boyfriend is creepier. [Trib]

G-Rod is calling lawmakers back to Springfield to work on that pesky, still unsigned state budget. [Trib, S-T]

])

A request for a street named in honor of Chicago author Saul Bellow was denied due to controversial remarks and writing by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Bellow's University of Chicago colleague and friend, Richard Stern, made the request to Ald. Toni Preckwinkle. Stern told the Chicago Tribune that Preckwinkle sent him a letter saying she had heard Bellow made racist comments and so would not endorse a memorial to him. Raised in Humboldt Park from...

After months of speculation that the Cubs might be put up for sale as part of a restructuring or sale of Tribune Co., almost immediately after the board's approval of Chicago billionaire Sam Zell's offer, news came that the team would in fact be sold. Now the handicapping can begin on who the new owner will be. There has certainly been no shortage of potential bidders mentioned. Of course, that was before the Cubs went...

Let's take a look back at a week that raised this Zen koan: if Kevin Federline got into a wrestling ring with a wrestler, who would you root for?

Hugh Hefner was educated at Steinmetz High School, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Northwestern University. He is credited with ushering in the sexual revolution throughout the country with the release of Playboy Magazine in 1953.

In a world where everything can be sold and named for a price, the next thing Chicago is auctioning off is the Chicago Skyway. In the next couple weeks, the bidding will begin to rename the toll bridge to Indiana. The winner pays $3 million a year and gets to have their name plastered all over the place for at least 5 years. And the city better be successful in finding someone who wants to pay up, because they're already counting on the money for this year.

Delivering more evidence that porn is more addictive than crack, Playboy Enterprises Inc. announced today that in partnership with Dwango Wireless they will soon begin offering adult-oriented content via wireless phones throughout the U.S. According to the Playboy press release: