Hugh Hefner Biography: Family Foursomes And A Gay Tryst

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First Posted: 06-22-08 08:28 AM   |   Updated: 06-30-08 05:12 AM

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Hugh Hefner

HUGH Hefner has gleefully enjoyed a sexually liberated life, but few know it all started with a little erotic dabbling within the Playboy czar's own family.

In his upcoming book, "Mr. Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream," Steven Watts writes how after Hefner wed his first wife, Millie, in 1949, he enlisted his friend Eldon Sellers, who would later help him co-found Playboy, into a staging a foursome.

The book relates: "One night after [Hugh] and Millie watched a stag film with Janie and Eldon Sellers, he suggested that the four of them make love on the same bed, each husband to his own wife. They did and in Sellers' words, 'It was different and exciting.' According to Millie, Hugh began to hint at switching partners, apparently suggesting it with the Sellerses, although the swap never materialized."

Hef then went further, trying a foursome out on his own family. "It did happen with his brother, Keith, and his wife, Rae, one evening," Watts writes. "[But] while Millie ultimately backed out of having sex with Keith, Hugh slept with his sister-in-law."

The book also claims Hef once tried a gay tryst. "Hefner's thirst for sexual experience became so strong that he even had a one-time homosexual experience," Watts writes. "One evening in downtown Chicago he was propositioned and, according to Sellers, he 'thought, what the hell. Found it an interesting experience. As far as I know, the guy just gave him [oral sex].' "

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Product Description
When Hugh Hefner quit his job at Esquire to start a magazine called Playboy, he didn't just want to make money. He wanted to make dreams come true. The first issue of Playboy had a Sherlock Holmes story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, an article on the Dorsey brothers, and a feature on desk design for the modern office, called "Gentlemen, Be Seated." Hefner wrote much of the copy himself and drew all the cartoons. But the most memorable part by far was the set of pictures he bought from a local calendar printer of a scantily clad Marilyn Monroe.

In this wise and penetrating biography, intellectual historian Steven Watts looks at what Hugh Hefner went onto become, and how he took America with him. Hefner became one of the most hated and envied celebrities in America, dating a long list of his magazine's beauties and always standing just barely on the wrong side of decency and moral uprightness. He also, at one time, had 7 million subscribers to his magazine. Though in time he would lose readers to more explicit magazines on one side and "lad" magazines on the other, the Playboy brand never lost its luster.

HUGH Hefner has gleefully enjoyed a sexually liberated life, but few know it all started with a little erotic dabbling within the Playboy czar's own family. In his upcoming book, "Mr. Playboy: Hugh H...
HUGH Hefner has gleefully enjoyed a sexually liberated life, but few know it all started with a little erotic dabbling within the Playboy czar's own family. In his upcoming book, "Mr. Playboy: Hugh H...
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Heff's wife backs out of a swap, but Heff boffs his brother's sister anyway? Poor bro. Heff is lucky not to have gotten a punch in the nose.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:02 PM on 06/23/2008
- bbbear I'm a Fan of bbbear 22 fans permalink
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I tend to agree, but see it a bit differently..It seems to me he probably helped a slew of sexually repressed folks, all the while giving phony moralists who probably secretly read Playboy, something to complain about..

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:50 PM on 06/24/2008

Ew, I am super open minded and liberal when it comes to these things but the list of things I didn't really want to know but couldn't stop from reading seems to be growing really fast. I think its that he is so old now that is the only Hefner I've ever seen so its kinda gross. As to whether women in Playboy are expoited I think it is totally up to them and Playboy versus other forms of pornography is much more artsy.
The only problem with pronography is that it is the only way for a lot of women and men to make a decent living. If people are seeing porn as the only way that is a larger social issue we need to deal with.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:47 PM on 06/23/2008
- djwfutbol I'm a Fan of djwfutbol 2 fans permalink

I never did quite believe that HH really did everything he was supposed to have done. Remember the stars on the cover myth? And how could anyone live with so many women in one house. I don't care how big it is. Still, the short-lived TV program "Playboy at Night" was special. As were the Playmates, in the '70s in particular. I even liked the campy Playboy clubs and I loved having the card in my wallet.

I always thought that people who complained that the models were being exploited gave the women too little credit. Is it really so bad to be photographed in mood light, lying on a sofa with nothing on? Are we all so fragile? Seems to me there are an awful lot of worse jobs out there. Investment banker, corporate middle manager, shoe salesman, journalist, web designer, you name it.

Major likes: Walks on the beach in the sunset. Major dislikes: Grumpy people.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:39 PM on 06/23/2008

Imagine, the book is "penetrating."

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:37 PM on 06/23/2008

Some things are best left unsaid!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:27 PM on 06/23/2008
- caseyblab I'm a Fan of caseyblab 4 fans permalink

H(ugh) Hefner is an unappetizing old reptile- interest in his sexual life is completely media-made. Ugh.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:29 PM on 06/23/2008
- Iago I'm a Fan of Iago permalink

A quiet amen to that. To each his own and all that, but I am sorry I read it. Curse my curiousity.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:37 PM on 06/23/2008
- SharonB I'm a Fan of SharonB 13 fans permalink

Too true. This article is one of those things that I have seen that make me want to tear out my eyeballs!!!!!!!!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:36 PM on 06/23/2008
- amantell I'm a Fan of amantell 6 fans permalink
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I haven't made up my own mind on whether the women who appear in Playboy are exploited. I would say that that Hefner's accomplishments are best viewed through a male prism. He achieved everything a man could hope for; he's got wealth, power, fame, he's surrounded by beautiful women, he got to realize his dreams as a literary figure, and he's gained his accomplishments on his own terms. That's why Hefner's admired by so many people, primarily men, I presume, and women too.
One might draw conclusions that he's motivated by various pathos to live the life he's had, but that could be said of anyone. Hefner happens to have had the drive and talent to realize the success in life that few other men are capable of. It's worth considering that while he could be considered a pornographer with delusions of grandeur, there isn't the same sordidness involving Playboy that surrounds much of the adult entertainment world. Suggestions of pimping, drug abuse, and STD don't radiate from the Playboy mansion the way they do elsewhere in L.A. The man's a hedonist and his magazine reflects his personality.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:52 AM on 06/23/2008

Well said, amantell.

Its true most men love everything having to do with Hefner and his magazine.

Most women don't.

This is simply indicative of the difference between the s*xes.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:41 PM on 06/23/2008
- MillieNeon I'm a Fan of MillieNeon 2 fans permalink

What makes Playboy exploitive, like other media of that genre, is not Hefner. It's how we deal with sex in this country. (Other countries have issues too, but I'll deal with this one.) We have foundation of Puritanism where sex and the body are disowned at best and regarded as "worldly/sinful" at worst -- even though sex is a basic instinct and desire a necessary key to reproducing the species. This creates a space for porn -- access to what is both desirable and taboo.

We also have an advertising industry that uses fantasies of what is both biologically instinctual and desirable and culturally taboo to sell products. So everywhere we turn there are sexy bodies doing sexy things on billboards, on tv, on the web, on the magazine stand, etc. This makes the sexy bodies objects divorced from humanity. That's what's exploitive. Yes, maybe Playboy "delved" into the personal profile of the playmates. But when guys take the centerfold to bed, they aren't looking at the profile.

If we allowed our sexualities to be normal, we wouldn't have this dichotomy between Puritanism and Hedonism. It would be a non-issue. We would have eroticism instead of porn.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:19 PM on 06/23/2008
- jukesgrrl I'm a Fan of jukesgrrl 85 fans permalink
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And more recently the "sexy bodies" we're turning into "objects divorced from humanity" are children's bodies. What does that say about us? I guess we don't have Hefner to thank for that, but your point is well-taken.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:53 PM on 06/23/2008

Our foundation of Puritanism is overstated and over-rated. We were settled by a huge mix of peoples with very different motivations, and the primary motivation, particularly in the Virginia and (what became New York) colonies, was not religion but economic betterment. Even on the Mayflower half the passengers were not affiliated with the religious dissidents fleeing England/Amsterdam. Later immigrants were a broad mix but few of them were Puritans. The most enduring religious legacy on America, IMO, was not the Pilgrims but the primitive Calvinism of the Scotch-Irish who settled the American South.

In any case, they are all given way too much credit and way too much voice, which explains why Americans are seen as so confused/hypocritical on sex when in fact in addition to Puritans we were also settled by a whole lot of freethinkers, liberals, and libertarians who never shared the Puritans' views.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:50 AM on 06/24/2008
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Very well said.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:42 PM on 06/23/2008

Gross.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:05 AM on 06/23/2008
- dawlishgal I'm a Fan of dawlishgal 220 fans permalink
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Yeah, ick. I wonder if people still "read Playboy for the ARTICLES."

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:51 AM on 06/23/2008

Actually, as one becomes a little older and less attracted to 'little girls', the articles are the best things about the magazine.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:10 PM on 06/23/2008
- azyuwish I'm a Fan of azyuwish 15 fans permalink
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Hefner was a fashion designer. His magazine, like Vogue, put out the latest fashion (his ideas) in women's bodies.

Just like women who follow the trends in Vogue. The sheep/men who subscribed to Hefner's trip, followed the trends in Playboy as to what was sexy, or not.

Nothing new here. Nothing groundbreaking or special. Commodities and consumers. Period.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:04 AM on 06/23/2008
- avraamjack I'm a Fan of avraamjack 21 fans permalink
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.
Not so.
.
I subscribe to Playboy and do not look at the pictures.
.
My taste in women differs from Mr. Hefner's.
.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:49 AM on 06/23/2008
- Topo I'm a Fan of Topo permalink

Heff is a lust animal . Your story make me vomit

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:57 AM on 06/23/2008
- Raymondf I'm a Fan of Raymondf 4 fans permalink

Who really gives a S.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:43 AM on 06/23/2008

Receiving a BJ? That's IT?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:07 AM on 06/23/2008
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Interesting to read the remarks posted here and contrast them with the literature, interviews and art in the old '60s-'70s Playboy mags. Hefner got stuck in that lame Brat Pack "swinger" mode a long time ago and he contributed much to that weird postwar twist that saw the glorification of the airheaded blonde who looked like a teenage boy with oversized mammaries, but he also gave print and time and more importantly, money, to writers, musicians, artists and progressive causes. I started out as a teenager looking at the naked girls but there's some truth in the old cliche, "I only read the articles," especially when I got older and the girls by then all looked alike. I suspect that if I met him, I'd probably find Hef shallow and a little two-dimensional. But Playboy, at least for a couple of decades, was the most prominent literary magazine in America and a potent force for good that helped to change the mores of the time for the better. Yes, it was also slick and superficial, and yes, he exploited women. And yes, he was also more grown up than about nine-tenths of the posts I've read here tonight. It felt like I was in a high school restroom, reading felt-tip comments scrawled on the wall.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:02 AM on 06/23/2008
- MonicaL I'm a Fan of MonicaL 2 fans permalink

QUOTE:

"...more grown up than about nine-tenths of the posts I've read here tonight."

Don't read them, then. Nobody is really interested in your sanctimonious, self serving little critique. And nobody cares about your opinions on the Playboy magazine style, regardless of era. To be brutally honest, your comment is disgustingly shallow and a little two-dimensional. Perhaps you should spend a little time with the Playboy pictures -- NOT the articles -- and work out some of your frustrations. Soon.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:06 AM on 06/23/2008
- dgsweet I'm a Fan of dgsweet 3 fans permalink

Monica -- You say that "nobody is really interested," but in so doing you suggest you speak for the rest of the people posting and reading here. You don't speak for me, and I rather doubt you speak for many people beside yourself. Your "brutal honesty" comes across as unjustified hostility. It's possible to disagree with someone without resorting to insults. You are making a public personal attack on someone you don't know. Does this really represent the best of you?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:50 PM on 06/23/2008
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You must be kidding.
How does someone become so overwrought about Hefner, a cultural icon, no matter your opinion of him or anything said about his trend setting magazine?
An awful lot of pop psychology today on Huffpost, don'tcha think?
Maybe it's got something to do with the phase of the moon :)

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:53 PM on 06/23/2008
- sssteverrr I'm a Fan of sssteverrr 18 fans permalink
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Say what you will. Hugh Heffners impact on Amerian culture as been immense and only positive.

He and his magazine have for ove half a century, fought for the idividual rights of all Americans. From the civil rights movement , to the right to choose, to the legalization of drugs, to the abolition of the death penalty Playboy has been in the forfront of defending American freedom.

As progressives we owe Mr. Heffner all our respect and gratitude for his courage and integrity.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:49 AM on 06/23/2008
- Marrigan I'm a Fan of Marrigan 3 fans permalink

You're kidding, right? For all of those sanctimonious "positives" that you listed, are you saying that Hugh Hefner couldn't have been involved all of those issues WITHOUT being a shameless exploiter of women? IMO, he is a disgusting, repulsive, narcisstic misogynist who has extensive harm the womens' sexual revolution than even Larry Flynt. It disappoints me to see him "celebrated" here at HuffPost.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:08 AM on 06/23/2008
- sssteverrr I'm a Fan of sssteverrr 18 fans permalink
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I won't argue the point that the magazine objectifies women or that our society would be a better place if this objectification was not encouraged by publications like Playboy.

But the positives are not sanctimonious and the magazine and its publisher are not mysogynistic.

You may view the women in Playboy as little girls incapable of taking care of themselves, but in fact they are adult women who make choices that they think are in their best interest.

Additionally Playboy had an impact on the sexual revolution for women through its affirmation of the idea that a women could be a sexual being without guilt.

You forget the constraints that were put on women. Yes the pictures objectify women, but the editorial content and philosophy of the magazine empowered women. I guess while I was reading the articles you were only looking at the pictures.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:16 PM on 06/23/2008
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Once you "go gay" you supposedly don't go back.

Hey, I guess, Hef is an exception. Besides, being gay is inherent.
Hugh just didn't have it in his genes.

BTW, I am a gay man in his 60's. I should know. :-)

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:28 AM on 06/23/2008
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He didn't "go gay"; he experimented. Big whoop. The question is, did he inhale?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:39 AM on 06/23/2008
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Those who "experiment" with the gay "life style" give us legit gays a bad rap. Most of us gays don't "choose" to be gay...we are simply born that way. Just saying. But. you and the rest of the world should know the truth.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:03 AM on 06/23/2008
- slobone I'm a Fan of slobone 6 fans permalink

Tooooooooooooo much information...

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:19 PM on 06/22/2008

LOL this is what i call 2-TMI... he was a "perve" from way back

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:30 PM on 06/22/2008
- stringer I'm a Fan of stringer 8 fans permalink

Perfect response. No one could have said it better. I wholeheartedly concur with your comment. TMI.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:19 AM on 06/23/2008
- DrDemon I'm a Fan of DrDemon 9 fans permalink
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I guess that would be the case if you choose to be "closed-minded"; or is it just homophobia?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:40 AM on 06/23/2008
- slobone I'm a Fan of slobone 6 fans permalink

Are you dense? Obviously I meant I'd rather not have the mental picture of Hugh Hefner in a 4-way, 3-way, or 2-way...

He can do whatever he wants as long as I don't have to know about it. I'm having enough trouble with his 8 animatronic "girlfriends".

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:59 PM on 06/23/2008
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