Playboy founder Hugh Hefner died on September 27, 2017. He was 91. Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Playboy

Hefner was born April 9, 1926, in Chicago to Glenn Hefner, an accountant, and Grace Hefner, a teacher. Both parents were conservative Protestants from Nebraska. This photo shows a 1-year-old Hugh, shared by Hefner himself on Instagram in 2013. Hugh Hefner/Instagram

Another early photo of Hefner shared on his Instagram shows him in 1933. Hugh Hefner/Instagram

Hefner poses for a photo at a high school football game in 1944. Shortly after he graduated from high school that year, Hefner joined the US Army as a writer for a military newspaper. Hugh Hefner/Instagram

Hefner seen at Camp Hood, a US Army base in Texas, in 1944. Hugh Hefner/Instagram

Hugh Hefner works on a typewriter in an undated file photo. Between 1951-1952, Hefner worked as a promotional copywriter for Esquire magazine. Playboy

Hugh Hefner poses with the first issue of Playboy in 1953. It featured a nude calendar photo of Marilyn Monroe and sold more than 50,000 copies. Courtesy Playboy

Hefner, left, reviews a negative in 1955. Hugh Hefner/Instagram

Hugh Hefner with Playboy bunnies in Chicago in 1960. Courtesy Playboy

Hefner was intimately involved in the early days of Playboy magazine. This photo shared by him on Instagram shows Hefner hopping through a chaos of paper in his office to take a phone call in 1962. Hugh Hefner/Instagram

Hefner is seen taking a phone call aboard his private plane in 1970. AP

Hefner displays his catch while fishing off the coast of Miami, Florida in this undated photo he shared on Twitter. From Twitter

Hefner and his then-girlfriend Barbi Benton pose with Playboy Bunnies at London's Heathrow Airport in 1970. Central Press/Getty Images

Hefner founded Playboy in 1953, growing it into a multibillion dollar empire. He bought the building that would become Playboy Mansion in the 1970s. M/K/Camera Press/Redux

Hefner seen in front of the Hollywood sign in 1978 in this photo for Weekend Magazine he shared on Twitter. From Twitter

Hefner and his daughter Christie seen in New York in 1982. Hefner is survived by four children. Sonia Moskowitz/IMAGES/Getty Images

Hefner poses with a cockatoo in one of his iconic silk robes at the Playboy Mansion in November 1993. Yann Gamblin/Paris Match/Getty Images

Hefner seen with his second wife, Kimberley Conrad, a former Playboy Playmate of the Year, and their sons Marston and Cooper in April 1994. Brad Elterman/Getty Images

Hefner poses with his daughter Christie, then CEO of Playboy, at her wedding to former Illinois state senator William Marovitz in 1995. Steve Liss/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images

Hefner poses at an event honoring actor Robert DeNiro on June 12, 2003 in Hollywood, California. Vince Bucci/Getty Images

Hefner seen with actor James Cann during Fight Night at the Playboy Mansion on July 15, 2003. Donald Miralle/Getty Images

Hefner poses at an event celebrating Playboy's 50th Anniversary at The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada in September 2003. Denise Truscello/WireImage via Getty Images

Hefner poses for a photo during "Hef's Fabulous Life" celebration held in Hollywood in January 2004. John Heller/WireImage/Getty Images

Hefner built himself into an icon, along with the Playboy Mansion, in which he posed for this November 2005 photo. The building was sold for $100 million in 2016 , but Hefner remained living there until his death. Dan Tuffs/Getty Images

Hefner poses with Kendra Wilkinson, Bridget Marquardt and Holly Madison at a signing for DVDs of their reality show "Hugh Hefner And the Girls Next Door" in August 2006. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Hefner during the launch of the Playboy Legacy Collection in Los Angeles, California on January 16, 2007. Victor Spinelli/WireImage/Getty Images

In this November 2007 photo, Hefner smiles while signing copies of the Playboy calendar and "Playboy Cover To Cover: The 50's" DVD box set. Ian West/PA/AP

Hugh Hefner and Pamela Anderson attend a book signing session at Taschen on December 10, 2009 in Beverly Hills, California. Riccardo S. Savi/Getty Images

Hefner poses for a portrait at his Playboy mansion in Los Angeles, California in July 27, 2010. LUCY NICHOLSON/Reuters/Newscom

Bill Cosby and Hugh Hefner pose together at Berverly Hills Playboy Mansion in February 2011. Earl Gibson III/WireImage via Getty Images

Hefner arrives at London's Stansted Airport on June 2, 2011 to mark the launch of a new Playboy Club in the British capital's Mayfair district. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Hefner married Crystal Harris, his third wife, on December 31, 2012. Hefner first proposed to Harris in 2010 when she was 24 and he was 84. Courtesy Elayne Lodge/Playboy

Hefner poses with Playmate of the Year 2013 Raquel Pomplun, second left, and Crystal Hefner, second right, at Playboy's 60th Anniversary special event on January 16, 2014 in Los Angeles. Rachel Murray/Getty Images