And The PLAYBOY Dies….

Hugh Hefner, American founder of the international adult magazine Playboy, has died at the age of 91. Playboy Enterprises Inc said he passed away peacefully at home in Los Angeles, from natural causes.

Hefner began publishing Playboy in his kitchen in 1953. It became the largest-selling men's magazine in the world, shifting seven million copies a month at its peak.

Cooper Hefner, his son, said he would be "greatly missed by many".

He paid tribute to his father's "exceptional and impactful life as a media and cultural pioneer," and called him an advocate for free speech, civil rights and sexual freedom.

Late Playboy publisher, Hugh Hefner, became deaf from too much Viagra —Report

It was also gathered that the ladies’ man was notorious for popping Viagra — a prescription medicine used in the treatment of erectile dysfunction and impotence in men.

“Hefner ate Viagra like sweets in order to maintain his very active sex life,” The Independent has reported.

“The pills, which have been linked in studies to sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL), apparently left him almost deaf in one ear, and completely deaf in the other,” Independent quoted two of his female consorts to have said.

“You have to lean down and talk into his good ear for him to understand you,” one of his former twin girlfriends, Karissa Shannon, said.

“We could sit right next to him and he wouldn’t have a clue what we said.”

But it seems this didn’t give Hefner pause or leave him with any regret, with Karissa adding: “He said he would rather have sex than have his hearing.”

Addressing a 2011 report on links between hearing loss and Viagra, the NHS writes: “SSHL is a rare, emergency condition caused by damage to the inner ear structures, which can lead to permanent hearing loss.

“The study found 47 cases of hearing loss associated with taking this class of drug. Two-thirds of these cases occurred within 24 hours of taking the drug.”

Playboy Enterprises announced Wednesday that Hefner had died in the Playboy Mansion from natural causes.

Playboy magazine was founded by Hefner more than 60 years ago as an upscale men’s magazine, combining images of nude women with in-depth articles, literature and interviews.

“Hugh M. Hefner, the American icon who, in 1953, introduced the world to Playboy magazine and built the company into one of the most recognisable American global brands in history, peacefully passed away today from natural causes at his home, The Playboy Mansion, surrounded by loved ones,” Playboy confirmed in a statement.

“He was 91 years old.”

Hugh Marston Hefner was born on 9 April , 1926, to strict Methodist parents.

The eldest of two brothers, he served two years in the Army during World War II before finding a job at Esquire as a copywriter.

Additional info: THE PUNCH