Lownes, Victor

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Information for Authority record

Name (Latin)
Lownes, Victor
Date of birth
1928-04-17
Date of death
2017-01-11
Occupation
Executives
Associated Language
eng
Gender
male
MARC
MARC

Other Identifiers

VIAF: 94805588
Wikidata: Q15109621
Library of congress: n 83009828
Sources of Information
  • New York times WWW site, viewed Jan. 13, 2017(in obituary published Jan. 12: Victor Lownes; b. Victor Aubrey Lownes III, Apr. 17, 1928, Buffalo; d. Wednesday [Jan. 11, 2017], London, aged 88; professed rake whose close friendship with Hugh Hefner helped shape Playboy magazine, its libertine ethic, and the Playboy empire's business success)
  • His The day the bunny died, c1983:CIP t.p. (Victor Lownes)

Wikipedia description:

Victor Aubrey Lownes III (April 17, 1928 – January 11, 2017) was an executive for HMH Publishing Company Inc., later known as Playboy Enterprises, from 1955 through the early 1980s. Soon after he met Hugh Hefner in 1954, Hefner founded Playboy magazine, and Lownes eventually joined his publishing company, serving as vice president. Lownes was a close confidant of Hefner and gained a reputation for dating Playboy Playmates. Lownes headed Playboy Europe and the UK Playboy Clubs from the mid-1960s until his dismissal in the early 1980s. Lownes oversaw Playboy Enterprises's move into casino gambling in the UK in the 1960s, which became Playboy's most successful business other than its publishing until the advent of cable television. He oversaw the most successful part of Hefner's attempt to diversify out of publishing and into motion pictures, hotels and casino gambling. During his time as head of Playboy Europe, he was Britain's highest paid executive, drawing a large salary and eventually becoming Playboy Enterprises's second biggest shareholder. Lownes is credited with creating Playboy Clubs in the United States.

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