Las Vegas Weekly

April 9, 2010 · 2:35 PM

Hugh Hefner on turning 84: ‘I’m in a great place … these are very good days’

By Robin Leach

Hugh Hefner and Crystal Harris celebrate Hef's 83rd birthday at the Palms.

Photo: Denise Truscello/WireImage

Sex-and-magazine mogul Hugh Hefner will celebrate his 84th birthday today at The Playboy Mansion with a screening of his favorite movie Casablanca , but when he flies into Las Vegas tomorrow, he’ll really party with a 1980s-themed bash at the Palms. The Playboy prince last night took his gal pal Crystal Harris and the Shannon twins Karissa and Kristina to see Alice in Wonderland in 3-D.

But as happy Hef confirmed to me when we chatted, the trio really has been cut to a monogamous relationship with Crystal. “I’m in a great relationship. I am in a good place. We are having good days. Crystal is very special. It was all unexpected, but I think I was finally ready for a real one-on-one relationship. She is definitely the right person at the right time. I’ve had no problem in shedding the others!”

How could I not ask Hef what he wanted for his birthday? “Just more of the same,” he chuckled. “I’m really savoring a real sense of satisfaction. I don’t want to screw it up because it’s working so well, but I’m not going to rule out marriage if she wanted to.”

Hef and Crystal will be celebrating his birthday at The Playboy Club and Moon in the Palms tomorrow. Also attending will be a posse of Playmates, a bevy of Bunnies, Mad Men star Bryan Batt and Palms owner George Maloof. Vegas DeLuxe will have photo and video coverage throughout the weekend, so check back here for our updates.

Here’s the one-on-one conversation with Hef:

Robin Leach: First of all, a very Happy 84th Birthday …

Hugh Hefner: Well, thank you.

RL: Does it feel like 84?

HH: No, it doesn’t. I think that the reality is when you’re younger, 84 isn’t even a number you can imagine, but I think that the years go by, and there are a few aches and pains, but other than that, I am in very good health. You may look older, but inside, you’re still the same guy.

RL: Why a 1980s-themed party?

HH: The Palms put it together. We were just inspired by the fact that I’m in my 80s. I did see a movie here, a silly film here last Sunday, it was called Hot Tub Time Machine. These guys travel back to the ’80s and reflect on it, so that was a very hot time.

RL: Do you think the ’80s were a very hot time?

HH: Not for me they weren’t. The best decade for me was probably the ’70s, I suppose, ’60s, ’70s. The Sexual Revolution really arrived in the middle of the 1960s, and the ’70s was an ongoing party. The ’80s, politically and socially, was kind of a reversal and kind of a more conservative time. You know, (Ronald) Reagan came in, AIDS arrived, and it was a more conservative time.

RL: You must have seen The Bucket List? Have you ever thought of writing down your own bucket list, or do you in fact have one?

HH: I think I covered mine about 10 years ago!

RL: There’s nothing left?

HH: I’ve been taking care of business for a long time.

RL: Is there nothing left? You don’t want to jump out of planes, do you?

HH: No, I don’t. I just want more and more of the stuff I’m experiencing right now. I’m in a great place, I’m in a great relationship with Crystal Harris and just enjoying life. These are very good days.

RL: Talking about Crystal, it’s pretty obvious now with the twins moved out to the bachelor pad across the street, this thing with Crystal has become something special and probably a little unexpected …

HH: Yes, I think so.

RL: And what do you think has made it that way?

HH: Well, I think I was ready for it, I think I was ready for a “real” relationship.

RL: It’s almost become a one-on-one relationship, which is something you’re not used to having before …

HH: With most things in life, it’s a matter of the right person, the things in life and the right time. I think that’s exactly right, this lady is the real deal. She comes from a very good place in terms of sincerity. I’m very lucky to have found her at this time of life.

RL: Is it going to lead to anything, do you think, or you’re so happy now, you’re not going to change anything?

HH: Well, I don’t want to screw anything up, so I will do anything to keep it as good as it can be.

RL: And so if she wanted to marry, would you marry?

HH: Well, those things are possible. I wouldn’t want to write it off, but I wouldn’t want to spoil what’s working so well.

RL: Hef, at this age, when you look back at such an extraordinary life, you probably would’ve never guessed it would be when you published the first edition of Playboy back in the 1950s, but do you sometimes sort of pinch yourself and say, “I can’t believe it all sort of worked out this way?”

HH: More than a few times, Robin. My life is like bad fiction: It’s too good to be true!

RL: And they say that if it’s too good to be true, it isn’t, but in your case, it is!

HH: That’s right!

RL: Be honest: At this age, the window of opportunity narrows, right? What is there left that you would love to do, especially now with this new lady who has become the priority in your life?

HH: Well, there isn’t really anything left except for savoring a real sense of satisfaction and a life well lived and looking back at it with great satisfaction, enjoying and reveling the here and now.

RL: Tell me why Crystal is so special then.

HH: Well, again, her sincerity, our common interests, she’s a real down-to-Earth girl whose priorities are this relationship.

RL: So there was no problem about shedding the additional ladies?

HH: Oh, oh, oh, no, no real problem. I think quite frankly I was in the process of that in the last relationship, with the three girls Bridget (Marquardt), Kendra (Wilkinson) and Holly (Madison). The relationship with Holly was turning into a one-on-one relationship, and if that had continued, I think that would have been a one-on-one relationship.

RL: Do you think that Playboy bachelors go through life and finally reach a point where you go back to being monogamous?

HH: Well, the reality, there are many roads that lead to Mecca, so there is not just one way to live your life. The single life works for some people, the married life works well for some people, and there are also stages of life. One of the things I think we’ve learned over the years is that we don’t get married so early now. It’s a good idea to play around while you’re young. Then you’re not tempted to fool around once you get married.

RL: Is that a status that you think you’re in now?

HH: I’m in a position now where I am very happy to settle down …

RL: I like that -- congratulations! You’re still active in Playboy, but economically, are you shedding some of that, as well?

HH: These are difficult times for a lot of people, especially for magazines and newspapers, so you know we’re going through our share of those. The solution to that is taking on some partners and focusing on the things that really pays off.

RL: I can’t believe that you don’t have in the back of your mind a little voice saying, “I’ve really got to do that before I go?”

HH: No, there really isn’t.

RL: So you’ve checked off the things that you’ve done and you’ve achieved and changed censorship and changed views educating a less-restrictive lifestyle.

HH: Well, I think that some of these things are simply ongoing, obviously some of the battles of changing values, we’ve come a long way, but freedom, as they say, requires eternal vigilance. The good fight continues, but that’s not the same thing. We’ve managed to accomplish the major things that we wanted to accomplish.

RL: What keeps you young?

HH: A good relationship and working on something that you really enjoy. That can and does keep me young. I’m still very involved with my magazine, and I’m taking the girls out to see Alice in Wonderland tonight.

RL: Do you think, as you’ve gotten older, I wouldn’t say more liberal, but more in keeping, more in step with age?

HH: You mean more conservative? I think essentially I’m the same guy when I was young. My views and values have not changed that much.

RL: Health-wise, you’re in great shape?

HH: Very great shape.

RL: Work-wise, you’re in great shape and looking to quiet down a little bit work-wise?

HH: I think I have done that and also the one-on-one relationship, both on the personal and professional level.

RL: So in summing up and looking forward, what do you want to say to all your fans?

HH: Please tell them I love them, and thank them, but we must party on. My mother lived until 101, and (Frank) Sinatra sang the song “to survive to 105.” I have every intention of doing just that -- and enjoying it all to the full with Crystal.”

HEF’S LIMITED-EDITION LOVESEAT

Bryan Batt will join Hef here to celebrate and recently created a Hef Limited-Edition loveseat that is in 1960s style to commemorate the 50th anniversary of The Playboy Clubs. Bryan also is an interior designer, and Hef has signed onto it as it pays homage to the era when The Playboy Clubs were first introduced.

“I’m a fan of Mad Men, and a one-of-a-kind Playboy piece by Bryan Batt to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Playboy Clubs seemed like a natural,” Hef said. “The loveseat brings back memories of the early 1960s, a time when Playboy solidified its place in American culture, in part with the introduction of the Playboy Clubs.

Made with luxury materials such as gray mohair upholstery, nail-head detailing and rosewood side panels, The Hef will be in limited production, with only 50 loveseats for sale at $15,000 each at HazelnutNewOrleans.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.

Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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