Why Hugh Hefner is buried next to Marilyn Monroe as reason sparked huge backlash
Despite the fact he never even had the pleasure of meeting her, Hugh Hefner chose to be buried right next door to Marilyn Monroe.
The Playboy magnate, who passed away at the age of 91 in September 2017, was dead set on becoming the movie star's eternal neighbour and paid $75,000 (£60,326) for the privilege.
His bizarre burial arrangement - which he orchestrated himself 25 years before his death - sparked a lot of backlash though, for obvious reasons.
Throughout his life, Hefner was somewhat obsessed with the Hollywood actress, even though he had never been in the same room as her.
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Monroe is pretty much responsible for making the magazine publisher so powerful, as she was Playboy's first cover girl - but it wasn't by choice.
A nude image of the legendary model from a calendar shoot she had previously done under a pseudonym was plastered across the first edition of his magazine in 1953.
Hefner sold 50,000 copies almost overnight after paying $500 (£402) for the centrefold photos which showed Monroe with 'nothing but the radio on'.
The blonde bombshell was paid just $50 (£40.22) for the original shoot and never received a penny from Playboy.
As well as this, Monroe didn't consent to the publication of the pictures, as she actually feared it would harm her career.
In her autobiography, Marilyn: Her Life in Her Own Words, the pin-up said: "I never even received a thank you from all those who made millions off a nude Marilyn photograph.
"I even had to buy a copy of the magazine to see myself in it."
Although Hefner's original 'Sweetheart of the Month' is essentially the person behind Playboy's epic rise to prominence, he didn't financially reward her for it.
So, a lot of people thought it was pretty absurd when he decided to snap up the crypt beside hers in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in 1992.
Discussing his motivation for the macabre purchase in 2012, he told CBS Los Angeles: "I feel a double connection to her, because she was the launching key to the beginning of Playboy. We were born the same year.
"I’m a believer in things symbolic," he later told the Los Angeles Times. "Spending eternity next to Marilyn is too sweet to pass up."
But a lot of people found Hefner's reasoning pretty weird, especially considering he had never met Monroe.
Explaining a vague connection they shared, Hefner previously claimed that the megastar attended the same acting class as his brother in New York.
"But the reality is that I never met her," Hefner confessed. "I talked to her once on the phone, but I never met her. She was gone, sadly, before I came."
According to the BBC, Hefner also said of Monroe: "I'm a sucker for blondes, and she is the ultimate blonde."
The magazine mogul, who said that many of his friends were also buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park, was reportedly buried wearing his famous pyjamas, smoking jacket and captain's hat.
Tech investor Anthony Jabin snapped up a burial crypt close to him and Monroe for $195,000 (£154,000) in April last year, for similar reasons to Hefner.
I mean, why do these men reckon they will have a better chance with Monroe in the after life if they pay to rest in peace right next to her?
Jabin said after bagging the one-space mausoleum at auction: "I've always dreamt of being next to Marilyn Monroe for the rest of my life. I bought Hugh Hefner's round bed and Marilyn Monroe's bathing suit at Julien's this weekend."
Monroe passed away in 1963 when she was just 36, after suffering from a barbiturates overdose at her home in Los Angeles.
Topics: Celebrity, Hugh Hefner, US News, Weird, Playboy
Olivia Burke