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Hefner To Be Buried Next To Marilyn Monroe: Inside Hef’s Eternal Connection To Playboy’s First Centerfold Star

By Victoria Miller
Published on: 22:48 PST, Sep 27, 2017

Hugh Hefner’s death has rocked the entertainment industry and the world. The Playboy founder passed away on Wednesday at age 91 at the Playboy Mansion. Hugh Hefner died of natural causes, according to the New York Post. But even his death, Hef will stay true to his image as the ultimate playboy.

Hugh Hefner will be buried in the mausoleum drawer next to Marilyn Monroe at the Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles, Calif., according to Entertainment Tonight. Hefner made headlines when he famously purchased the crypt adjacent to Monroe back in 1992 for a reported $75,000. Other Hollywood celebrities buried at the famous cemetery include Dean Martin, Roy Orbison, Eva and Zsa Zsa Gabor, Merv Griffin, Natalie Wood, Rodney Dangerfield, Farrah Fawcett and Truman Capote.

In 2012, Hefner himself confirmed his plan to be laid to rest next to Marilyn Monroe.

“I feel a double connection to her because she was the launching key to the beginning of Playboy,” Hugh told CBS of the late Hollywood icon.

“We were born the same year…I will be laid to rest in a vault next to hers. It has a completion notion to it. I will be spending the rest of my eternity with Marilyn.”

[Image by Mark Lennihan/AP Images]

Hugh Hefner had a very special connection to Marilyn Monroe. The blonde bombshell appeared on the first Playboy cover, with an old nude photo of the Hollywood icon serving as the magazine’s first centerfold in December 1953. Hefner bought the nude calendar photo of Monroe for a mere $500. The first issue of Playboy quickly sold out and made Hefner a superstar.

After Hugh Hefner’s death was made public, some of the most famous females who appeared in his magazine paid tribute to him on social media, including Jenny McCarthy, Paris Hilton, and Kim Kardashian West.

Kardashian, who appeared on the cover of Playboy in 2007 to promote her family’s then-new reality show Keeping Up With the Kardashians, tweeted: “RIP to the legendary Hugh Hefner! I’m so honored to have been a part of the Playboy team!”

McCarthy and Hilton tweeted photos of their Playboy covers. McCarthy described Hugh Hefner as “a revolutionary” who changed “so many people’s lives, especially mine.”

While he spent his life surrounded by beautiful women, there is no doubt that Hugh Hefner had a special place in his heart for Marilyn Monroe, despite the fact that he barely knew her. In a 2011 interview with Piers Morgan, Hefner said he considered Monroe as his favorite pinup of all time. “Without Marilyn Monroe, I wouldn’t be here,” he said.

[Featured Image by Mel Bouzad/Getty Images]

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