 I remember the first time I met Hugh Hefner. He wasn’t wearing his trademark silk pajamas or lounging in his trademark round bed or smoking his trademark pipe. It was at the Playboy Club in Hollywood, and he was wearing his trademark publisher’s business suit with one of those expensive ties just like the ones advertised in Playboy magazine.
I walked into the club enroute to an interview with Hef’s then-girlfriend, Barbi Benton, a singer who had become nationally known for shedding her clothes in Hefner’s Playboy magazine and for her much publicized on-again, off-again, on-again romance with “the Big Bunny.”
 Hefner walked over to me, introduced himself and extended his hand, officially welcoming me to his private domain. Sure enough, there were scantily-clad lovelies everywhere, just like on the pages of Playboy magazine. Over in one corner of the lounge sat Barbi Benton, a living Barbi Doll if I ever saw one. She was surrounded by six big burly body guards, who looked like former NFL football players or maybe guys who had worked for J. Edgar Hoover. Their duty was to keep an eye on me and make sure everything during my interview session was on “the up and up.”
While I conducted my interview, Hefner sat there and sipped a Pepsi Cola brought to him lovingly by a busty blonde who would have made Pamela Anderson look like a tomboy.
  Herfner may have been a bit apprehensive and overprotective of his Barbi Doll in the beginning, but once he decided I was not gonna make a pass at her, he motioned for the body guards to “back off,” and they did so, rather reluctantly, almost as if they were jealous of the fact that I got to stay in the intimate lounge with the curvaceous cutie.
Hefner asked me if I’d like a drink. Taking a cue from him, I asked for a Pepsi. (I thought maybe that would score some “brownie points” with the man envied by most of the red-blooded males in America).
I think maybe most men are fascinated with Hugh Hefner because deep down, at one point or another, they’ve probably fantasized about being Hugh and living the swinging bachelor lifestyle that he has so eloquently demonstrated as being a whole lot of fun.
But, before you tell your best friends to stick it where the sun don’t shine, consider this: Maybe life in the fast lane with fast women would be cool for a bit, but what would it be like living in a house full of ‘em? And not just ordinary females, mind you, but highly competitive babes who would not hesitate to lie, cheat or steal if they could get stoned, get rich quick and get famous in the process.
 So, before you say, “Yeah, man, bring on the babes,” consider the fact that a bunch of bimbos with breasts to rival Dolly Parton may not be the perfect formula, necessarily, to relieve the stress you experience in your everyday life. Hell, I know plenty of men, damned experienced dudes when it comes to getting along with women, who can’t make it through the day with one bimbo – much less a brothel full of naked Playboy Playmates. Not to mention a cute little seductive thing like Barbi Benton.
  I must admit I was rather amused at Hefner’s fascination with Barbi. For sure, she was a real charmer, and young enough to be his daughter. Her name wasn’t always Barbi Benton. She was born Barbara Klein.
Barbi attended UCLA before embarking on a show biz career with Playboy. She met Hefner in 1968 during the filming of the TV show, “Playboy After Dark.” Barbara/Barbi lived with Hefner for nine years. She’s the person who actually found the house in LA that Hefner eventually turned into the Playboy Mansion. But, most people don’t know that.
 Her big “claim to fame” is she was the first woman, reportedly, that Hefner ever “fell in love with.” After her fling with the Playboy mogul, she was a regular on TV’s “Hee Haw ” for five years, and later was featured provocatively in a number of “B movies,” such as “Deathstalker” and “Hospital Masacre.”
She also recorded several albums that enjoyed some success on the country-pop charts, including the song, “Staying Power,” co-written by Neil Sedaka, which was included on the “Bed” album.
When my interview with her was over, Hefner took me for a personal tour of the Hollywood Playboy facility. I had heard all sorts of rumors about Hefner before I met him, so I was intrigued with the opportunity of getting a chance to take the tour.
 Having been an avid reader of Playboy since I picked up the first issue, with Marilyn Monroe on the cover, (I was one of those guys who liked the magazine for its ribald humor and avidly read the Playboy Interview like some guys today snuggle up with the stock market reports or the NY Times crossword puzzle), I made up my mind right then and there that I wanted to become an editor-publisher some day just like Hugh Hefner.
Hefner was born on April 9, 1926, in Chicago, Illinois. As a child, he attended Sayre Elementary School and Steinmetz High on the West Side of Chicago. He wasn’t particularly a gifted student, just your “run of the mill average joe,” they say, who was getting by in school.
He did, however, possess a genius IQ (152), individualizing himself instead with his extracurricular activities such as starting a school paper, writing, drawing animation, and serving as president of the student council. Sound familiar as basic fundamentals for the self-made millionaire?
Following graduation from high school in 1944, Hef (a nickname that he's preferred since he was a kid), decided to put off becoming rich and famous for awhile, and, instead, joined the US Army, serving as an Infantry Clerk and drawing cartoons for various Army newspapers.
After his discharge from the service in 1946, he began taking art classes (anatomy, of course) at the Chicago Art Institute, enrolling that fall at the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana.
Hefner received his bachelor's degree in two and a half years by doubling up on classes while drawing cartoons for the Daily Illinois and editing the campus humor magazine, Shaft, where he initially introduced a new feature entitled “Coed of the Month” (Sound familiar)?
After leaving the University of Illinois, Hefner worked as an assistant personnel manager for the Chicago Cartoon Company in 1949, and as an advertising copywriter for the Carson, Pirie, Scott department store in 1950.
His future seemed bleak there for awhile until he landed a job as a promotions copywriter at Esquire magazine in 1951. When the magazine moved its offices to New York, he chose to remain behind and start a magazine of his own. From that point on, the rest, as they say, is history.
 The first issue of Playboy magazine, featuring the now-famous calendar photo of Marilyn Monroe, was produced on a kitchen table in his South Side apartment.
When the publication first hit the newsstands, in December 1953, it carried no cover date because Hefner was not sure, exactly, when or if he would be able to produce another. But, the first issue sold more than 50,000 copies -- enough to pay for the costs and finance another issue. Thus began the impressive life of Hefner (Oh, excuse me, Hef) and his globally notorious magazine – imitated by many but never surpassing the original prototype of the perfect pictorial and literary magazine for American men.
 Most would agree, I think, that Hefner is a unique man. It’s somewhat difficult to pigeonhole him and point to the so-called “magic formula” which produced his success, although a pretty good case could be made for sex, money, sex, booze, sex, drugs, sex, jazz, sex, fast cars, sex, fashionable attire, sex, gourmet food, sex, wit and wisdom, sex and fantasy.
During his tenure, since he introduced the world to Playboy, Hefner has done some amazing things. From putting on what is considered by many to be “the greatest single weekend in the history of jazz” at the first ever Jazz Festival at Chicago Stadium, to organizing Hollywood’s stars to refurbish “Hollywood's Eiffel Tower” (the famous Hollywood sign), Hefner is truly a man some people despise, because of his wealth and sexual promiscuity, while at the same time, a man many consider worthy of great admiration.
 Besides ushering in the sexual revolution in America, Hefner built an entertainment empire that spread across the world and become a household name; even though it's usually hidden under the bed.
Despite the fact that Hefner is no longer the acting editor-publisher of Playboy today, (his daughter runs the magazine), Hef continues to set trends, such as dating three Playboy bunnies simultaneously. At the “tender old age” of 74, Hef still looks dapper and debonair.
 Reportedly, still sexually active in the bedroom today, though Hefner admits he has “slowed down a little,” he takes Viagra to help maintain his sexual stamina. Those who know Hefner intimately say it's a wonder he isn't dating more 20-something women.
Well, even if your name is Hugh Hefner, being able to get thousands of women to sleep with you isn't the standard measure for a man's charisma but he has undeniable charm and can probably list the names of thousands of women that he has bedded. Fortunately, he has used his considerable magnetism not only to build up his company, but to entice hundreds of celebrities to join in on the frolicking fun at the Playboy Mansion.
 Hugh Hefner doesn't exactly exude the masculine energy today he did when I first met him, but he has nothing left to prove to anyone about his manhood. One may not approve of his lifestyle (many are jealous and many abhor his obsession with sex and promiscuity), but the fact that he certainly has played the role of a Playboy (no matter his elder statesman age) is something that cannot be overlooked.
So, what is it about the man that makes him such a sexual magnet? What is it about Hefner that attracts women by the droves while many younger, handsome hunks are ignored and neglected?
 If Hefner walked down the street, unassumingly, in a pair of those cool California sunshades and a funky hat, like Brad Pitt, the odds are pretty slim that any woman would look his way -- he is, after all, 73 -- but dress him up in silky pajamas and change his address to the Playboy Mansion and suddenly three of the most beautiful women in the world become his girlfriends.
Not to take anything away from Hefner when it comes to good looks or congeniality (after all, he’s a handsome, rugged, meticulously manicured fellow with a great deal of wit and charm), but they say it takes more than masculinity these days to entice a woman into your bed.
 So, what does that say about Hefner? Does it mean that there are babes everywhere running around half-nekkid who are attracted to the man simply because he’s a nice fellow who throws lots of fun parties and has friends who can score some coke at a moment’s notice? Does it mean that these bimbos are bored silly with dudes in the Hollywood in-crowd and want to lay around the sauna in their birthday suit with an intellectual father figure?
Hardly. Hefner has always struck me as a smart fellow who knows a good thing when he sees it. Bimbos have always been known to flock around the guy who has the bucks, no matter how old he is or what color his pajamas are. And, after all, let’s face it, Hef is in the bimbo business. He built his empire with bimbos.
 Over the years, when the Playboy Clubs were thriving all over the country, and Casinos in some foreign countries as well, it was a real treat for Key Club members to enjoy VIP-status at the Playboy Club, courtesy of Hefner and his professionally-trained staff.
The Playboy Club in Dallas was no exception. Located in what was then fondly called “the Cowboys Building,” (before the Dallas NFL club moved their facilities to Valley Ranch in suburban Irving), many celebrities and would-be celebrities frequently dropped by the club, made business deals and signed autographs in the plush ground floor lobby of the landmark office building.
Making your “grand entrance” at the Dallas Playboy Club was truly a grand experience, especially if you were arriving there as a guest for the first time. Bunnies met you in the spacious, plush lobby of the building and “escorted” you up the escalator to the second-floor classy Playboy Club location. Frequently, standing at the top of the escalator, waiting to greet you, was Mr. Hefner, himself, and if not, certainly one of the most charming and statuesque beauties this side of Hollywood.
 The Playboy Club in Dallas sorta became my “unofficial office.” So many VIPS and celebrities came to the Playboy Club for dinner and to perform in the showroom, I found it more advantageous to hang out there. It was fun to do interviews at the Playboy Club, because guests always seemed to be in a joyful, playful mood and responsive to casual conversation.
When I hosted my Celebrity TV Show, I taped several segments at the Playboy Club. Duane Thomas, the moody scatback who once called Tom Landry “a plastic man,” (and scored the first TD at TexasStadium, when he played for the Dallas Cowboys), asked if he could be a guest on the show. Since Duane was rather notorious for not talking to the press, I was rather amused that he would want to even be interviewed, much less appear on television. Then he confided that teammate Charlie Waters had told him how much fun he had doing the show, and what a kick it was hogging the cameras away from all the busty Bunnies.
Hefner’s Bunnies at the Dallas Playboy Club were an exceptional group. They were as popular with Playboy Key Club members at the Playboy Club as the famed Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
When Hefner first found out how good the “bunny crop” was in Dallas, he sent former Playboy Playmate Micki Garcia down to Texas to talk to me about rounding up a few new recruits for the magazine. (I had first met Micki when she chaperoned Playmate of the Year Debra Jo Fondren, a Texas beauty, around town when she was the reigning Playboy covergirl).
 Hefner, of course, has always been famous for his promotional gimmicks, and the club in Dallas presented some rather interesting opportunities for him. Despite their notoriety, the Playboy Bunnies at the Dallas Playboy Club were not the most popular group of sexy women in town. The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders were.
Hefner wanted to do something that would rival the popularity of the Cowboys cheerleaders, who had their own posters and calendars and were mini-celebrities nationally. (Hefner’s people had enticed several Cowboys cheerleaders to “pop their tops” for his magazine, but there was “bad blood” between the Cowboys organization and the Playboy people. When all the dust had cleared, a number of the most popular Cowboys cheerleaders lost their positions on the squad and retaliated by forming a rival cheerleading group known as the Texas Cowgirls).
Playboy immediately offered them “exposure” on the pages of their publication, and they “ripped off” the popular Cowboys Cheerleaders poster pose with their own topless one in Playboy magazine.
 This, obviously, didn’t set too well with some folks in Big D. Hefner was concerned about what affect all this hullabaloo would have on the business success of the Dallas club and the fallout from the magazine pictorial (which made his organization plenty of bucks but ultimately led to the downfall of his empire in Texas).
Hef wanted to do something that would get the Playboy organization good press and overcome the bad publicity that surfaced after the cheerleader incident. He asked me what I thought about staging a little “friendly catfight,” so to speak, between the Cowboys Cheerleaders and the Dallas Playboy Bunnies and raise a bunch of money for charity in the process.
I suggested the possibility of having a Powder Puff touch football game between the two groups to settle the rivalry and put a stop to all the nonsense. (Popular Cowboys star Charlie Waters served as one of the referees for the game).
The Bunnies won the contest, though I don’t remember the exact score. The official Powder Puff Bowl trophy was showcased proudly at the Dallas Playboy Club, during which time members filled it full of big bucks and a sizeable donation was made to a local children’s hospital. (Hefner wrote a personal check to the hospital fund as well).
 Hefner, of course, is a multi-millionaire hundreds of times over and is respected by others in the publishing business, unlike Larry Flynt or Bob Guccione. While sex was always Hefner’s persona, it was always sophisticated and never raunchy. I can remember when Playboy centerfold models had to place pillows or other objects strategically to hide their “private parts” when they were photographed for magazine centerfolds.
Hefner has always been a genuine “boobie freak,” but it was only a few years ago that he finally relented and allowed Playmates in Playboy’s pictorials to show their pubic hair. (The competition had been doing it for years).
Over the years, the Playboy magazine image has remained mostly intact since its inception, (very little, actually, has changed in the publication’s format except there is more advertising). However, that’s all due to change soon, if you can believe what you hear on the street these days.
Hef has hired a new editorial director, James Kaminsky, formerly the number two guy at Maxim. Kaminsky is charged with overhauling the icon of girlie magazines, for a whole new generation, when guys can get all the naked pictures they want on the internet.
While both Hefner and Kaminsky admit the world has changed over the years, perhaps the biggest hurdle Playboy faces in its 49th year is justifying itself “when it’s not relevant to this day and age.” While times have changed, the magazine has not. The rumor is these guys might even do away with the publication’s centerfold, the Playmate of the Year and all the naked college girls.
 Since Maxim features scantily clad women, but not full frontal nudity like Playboy, it’s the one defining characteristic that separates the two magazines. And, the difference is, guys can carry a copy of Maxim on the bus or home to their girlfriend, while Playboy is linked to pornography, (which is, indeed, in the eye of the beholder, but, in most circles, nudity is still not acceptable in America today).
Ask Hefner, and he’ll tell you that Playboy has been gradually changing for several years. While Hef wants to “refurbish” the traditional mix of style, attitude and humor that made it “the most imitated magazine in the world,” he hedges on whether the magazine will trash the nudes. Just the other day, he commented, “You have to think about what is working now. We live in a world that is so saturated with images (nudity) doesn’t have the kind of meaning it once did.”
Part of that may be attributed to the so-called “sexual revolution” that has become so prevalent in America, including some of the popular sexual shindigs at the Playboy Mansion. Hefner has invited a variety of controversial show biz and sports personalities over the years to party with him and all the naked bimbos.
I h ad to smile awhile back when Bill Maher filmed a segment of “Politically Incorrect” at the Mansion and was “kissing up” to everybody. Hefner sat there holding hands with a bimbo like a teenager in heat and grinned like only a fat cat 74-year-old millionaire can.
He seemed bored with all the frivolity and looked like he couldn’t wait to retire to the privacy of his bedroom for the fun and games. Or, maybe he just wanted to take a nap.
Oh, well, that’s show biz, baby.
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