“American Playboy” will combine archival footage, interviews and cinematic reenactments
Tony Maglio | August 11, 2016 @ 6:27 AM
Last Updated: August 11, 2016 @ 7:03 AM
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Amazon has greenlit Hugh Hefner docuseries, “American Playboy.”
The 13-episode season will combine archival footage, interviews and cinematic reenactments to tell the tale of the “Playboy” magazine founder and his impact on global culture and history. It will premiere next year in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Austria and Japan.
“American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story” begins in post-war America, taking viewers through the 1953 launch of “Playboy” magazine. It will cover the next six decades of Hef’s life and career, as the target of the conservative movement spoke out for social justice and civil rights, battling along the way with the FBI and J. Edgar Hoover.
Producers received access to more than 17,000 hours of never-before-seen footage from the Playboy archives, and to Hefner’s personal scrapbooks. The 90-year-old icon also offered up some stories for the first time ever, Amazon said.
“Although Hugh Hefner is an iconic figure known worldwide, most people may not be aware of the impact he has had on some of this country’s most important social revolutions,” said Conrad Riggs, head of Unscripted, Amazon Studios. “We are excited to bring Prime members the untold story of Mr. Hefner’s remarkable life and his contributions to modern American history.”
“It has been a long road in finding the right partners to tell the full story of Playboy as it has unfolded over these past 63 years, and I believe we have found them in the collaborative team of Stephen David Entertainment and Amazon,” said Hefner. “I’m pleased that this docuseries will shed light on what has been an incredible journey and the voice Playboy has had in the discussion of our ever-changing culture. Just as importantly, my hope is that it will inspire others to pursue their dreams.”
“To say that Hugh Hefner has lived a ‘full life’ is an incredible understatement,” said Stephen David, executive producer and president of Stephen David Entertainment. “Hefner created more than a magazine–Playboy became a thrilling lifestyle, one that Hef has embodied for the better half of a century. Bringing Hef’s world to life has been an adventure for SDE, and we cannot wait to share it with Prime members.”
“American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story” is produced by Stephen David Entertainment and Alta Loma Entertainment, and executive produced by David, Peter Jaysen and Dick Rosenzweig, with co-executive producers Shirley Escott and Tim Kelly.
Dani Mathers' Snapchat Scandal and 7 Other Playboy Playmate Controversies (Photos)
Dani Mathers -- the 2015 Playboy Playmate of the Year who's currently under criminal investigation after photographing a nude woman at her gym and posting it on Snapchat -- is the latest Playmate to make shocking headlines, but she's hardly the first.
Read on for TheWrap's history of Playmate controversies.
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After serving as Playboy's 1968 Playmate of the Year using the name Angela Dorian, Victoria Vetri went on to appear in movies such as "Rosemary's Baby" and "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth." Later, she would go on to receive a nine-year sentence for attempted voluntary manslaughter for shooting and wounding her husband during an argument.
Tanya Beyer was Playboy's Miss February 1992. She took a much less glamorous picture for her mug shot years later, after being arrested for trafficking in oxycodone.
The entire public life of Anna Nicole Smith (Playboy's 1993 Playmate of the Year) seemed to be one long controversy, from the battle over her billionaire husband J. Howard Marshall's fortune to her death in 2007 at age 39.
Sibling models Kristina and Karissa Shannon shared Playmate honors in Playboy's combined 2009 "summer issue." However, the two Playmates almost became inmates when they were charged with felony aggravated assault stemming from a fight at a house party. Luckily for them they received probation.
Perhaps not so much a controversy as a tragedy, Playboy's 1980 Playmate of the Year Dorothy Stratten was murdered that same year, at age 20, by her estranged manager/husband Paul Snider. Her story inspired two movies, "Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story" and "Star 80."
Playboy's 50th anniversary Playmate Colleen Shannon loved her boyfriend so much that she smuggled him into the U.S. from Canada. She was sentenced to four months in prison after pleading guilty.
After scoring Playmate of the Month honors in December 2009, Crystal Hefner (nee Harris) became engaged to Playboy boss Hugh Hefner in 2010. Apparently those wedding bells began to hit some bum notes, and she broke off the engagement in 2011, just days before they were to be wed. The abrupt about-face prompted Playboy to slap stickers reading "Runaway Bride" on the July issue of Playboy, which featured her on the cover. The good news? The pair reunited and married for real in 2012.
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From human smuggling to attempted manslaughter, a history of misdeeds committed by women who’ve appeared in Hugh Hefner’s skin mag
Dani Mathers -- the 2015 Playboy Playmate of the Year who's currently under criminal investigation after photographing a nude woman at her gym and posting it on Snapchat -- is the latest Playmate to make shocking headlines, but she's hardly the first.
Read on for TheWrap's history of Playmate controversies.