At 80, Hefner Still a Hopping Playboy

April 7 2006 — -- The man who introduced the Playboy bunny is starting to resemble the Energizer bunny. As his 80th birthday approaches, the wheeling-dealing, Viagra-popping Hugh Hefner keeps going … and going … and going.

Don't ask why Hef doesn't retire. His lifestyle remains the best living, breathing commercial Playboy has ever had. The three girls he's dating -- Kendra Wilkinson, 20; Holly Madison, 25; and Bridget Marquardt, 31 -- are the subject of E!'s top rated reality show, "The Girls Next Door." And, inexplicably, the show is more popular with women than it is with men.

Do the math. The combined age of his trio of girlfriends, whom he'll huddle up with this weekend, still makes them three years his junior. It's the sort of factoid that has made him a figure reviled by some, revered by others. But he certainly has enough fans in the right places.

Even the biggest stars still yearn for an invite to his famed Playboy Mansion. The 31-room Tudor mansion north of Beverly Hills has a sign outside that reads: "Caution, Bunnies at Play."

The young hotshots on HBO's "Entourage," as well as the sophisticated New York City gals of "Sex and the City," and even the curmudgeonly Larry David on "Curb Your Enthusiasm," have all been shown partying with Hef, much like any real-life young Hollywood star.

Hef's daughter, Christine, took command of the $466 million empire in 1988, 13 years after he offered her a job in the company, and they remain in control of the voting shares that guide Playboy's interests, as the bunny brand hops down a global money trail with new vigor.

It was with the same gusto in 1953 that a 27-year-old Hefner assembled the first issue of Playboy magazine on his kitchen table in Chicago, having the divine wisdom or dumb luck to gamble $500 on his first cover girl -- an unknown Hollywood wannabe named Marilyn Monroe.

Few people believed then that a magazine that featured women in a state of undress had a place on newsstands with mainstream press or that top advertisers would compete for ad space with Playboy centerfolds.

Needless to say, he was right. And long before Howard Stern, Hef could rightly claim to be a king of all media, launching TV shows, a string of nightclubs, and a thriving Web site, all advocating the Playboy lifestyle.

Now, the man who launched America's sexual revolution prepares for life as an octogenarian with another big bash at the Playboy Mansion. Amid final preparations, he took some time out to talk with ABCNEWS.com to reflect upon his singular life and career.

Buck Wolf: What's the best part about turning 80 ... and the worst?

Hugh Hefner: Well, it's a celebration. The last two years have really been the best part of my life. The great downside is mortality. But mortality is something we all share.

BW: The last time we spoke, you were proclaiming Viagra as the new wonder drug. You told me, quote, "It's a good deal more than an impotence drug. It is, I think, the best legal recreational drug out there. It knocks down the walls between expectation and reality." Are you still a happy customer?

HH: Well, yes. Now, the competition has arrived in a couple of variations of the same theme, and you see the advertising has changed, and they recognize it isn't just for old folks. Quite literally, like I said at the time, it's the best legal recreational drug out there!

BW: You have rules about drugs, though. A few days ago, you hosted an event for the Marijuana Policy Project, a group that opposes criminal penalties for marijuana use, and guests at the Playboy Mansion were reminded that anyone caught smoking pot would be thrown out. And that's always the policy.

HH: Yes, that's the policy. It's one thing to try to change the way of things. It's another thing to break the law. Always with Playboy, we tried to take the high road. It's the reason we've been able to succeed when others have failed.

BW: What is the biggest change in your conception of the Playboy image then and now?

HH: Well, I've always felt that the response to Playboy is like a Rorschach [inkblot] test, and says a great deal about the individual, as well as changes in society over the years.

When the subject is play and pleasure and sexuality, America remains very schizophrenic. We were founded by Puritans. I think the message today is as mixed as it was in the 1950s. We live in curious times.

When I was growing up -- and when Playboy began -- good, middle-class, moral people came out of school and got married. That was the only real, viable way of life. Playboy was the first magazine to focus on being single from a male point of view. Now, 50-plus years later, there are many acceptable variations of that theme.