When Hefner started out, he created an image of slick sophistication and glamour; the girls in Playboy were nude but there were no explicit shots of their private parts. Keys to Playboy Clubs were sold for $ 25 each (they sold zillions), the Clubs themselves were attractions and the magazine peaked at 7.5 million subscribers. Then, the whole empire of Playboy seemingly had to become more and more explicit; it was investigated as a center for drug dealing in Chicago and Hefner descended, like a swirling toilet, into more and more filth and depravity. His life didn’t amount to much of anything positive, plenty negative, he hurt many (ask Dorothy Stratten’s family) and although there is a forgiving God, I doubt Hefner is in a “better place”.
Huh. I heard Orson Bean, probably on Dennis Miller, say that at the Playboy parties he went to, there'd be bowls of cocaine out.