13 Playboy Playmates We Have to Thank Hugh Hefner For

Hugh Hefner passed away yesterday at the ripe young age of 91 and it is undoubtedly a sad day in the lives of many. Hefner started publishing Playboy in his basement in 1953 when he was all of 27. This was the prime of the American sexual revolution and Hefner embodied the brand he was building.

He lived his life in his signature pyjamas, surrounded by beautiful women, living by all accounts the good life. Some of the women that featured in his magazine went on to have super successful careers and gain worldwide popularity.

Here is a list of 13 such hotties that the world must thank Hef for.

1. Marilyn Monroe

Legendary actress, Marilyn Monroe graced the first-ever cover of Playboy in 1953.

2. Pamela Anderson

Before Baywatch, this bombshell was a Playmate and posed for many Playboy covers including posing for their last-ever nude issue.

3. Dita Von Teese

Heather Renée Sweet picked a name out of a phonebook and became the famous Dita Von Teese for her Playboy breakthrough and kept the name ever since.

4. Jenny Mcarthy

Jenny Mcarthy started her career with Playboy, but went on to build a flourishing one in both television and film.

5. Kelly Monaco

Kelly Monaco also started her career thanks to Playboy, but then went on to make it big in the daytime drama General Hospital.

6. Rachel Hunter

Successful New Zealand born model, Rachel Hunter has magazines like Harper's Bazaar, Vogue and Sports Illustrated under her belt, in addition to her Playboy covers.

7. Carmen Electra

Carmen Electra is another Baywatch babe who has posed on Playboy a couple of times.

8. Cindy Crawford

Super model great, Cindy Crawford has posed in her birthday suit on multiple occasions for Playboy.

9. Sharon Stone

Bombshell Sharon Stone proved her acting chops in Total Recall and Basic Instinct, but her sex appeal was proved with her Playboy covers.

10. Elle Macpherson

Elle is so hot in her Bridget Bardot-inspired cover of Playboy, that there was no other print on the cover except for 'Elle' and 'Playboy'.

11. Jayne Mansfield

It's still hard to beat the pure sex appeal that was Jayne Mansfield who died tragically in a car crash at the young age of 34.

12. Dorothy Stratten

Dorothy Stratten was only 20 when she was brutally murdered by her estranged husband and is the youngest Playmate to have passed away. Her story is documented in two Hollywood films--Death Of A CentreFold: The Dorothy Stratten Story and Star 80.

13. Anna Nicole Smith

Anna Nicole Smith, Playmate of the year 1993, died of a drug overdose in 2007.