Hefner’s Playboy Days Come to an End as He Marries His Playmate

Hugh Marston Hefner--publisher of Playboy magazine and a man who once described marriage as the “the death of hope”--said “I do” Saturday to his favorite Playmate.

He is 63 and not getting any younger, after all.

His mother, a few former Playmate girlfriends and about 150 other guests looked on as “Hef” exchanged traditional wedding vows with his bride, Kimberly Faye Conrad, 26, of Vancouver, Canada. She is the Playboy’s reigning Playmate of the Year.

“He said it!” Rev. Charles D. Ara crowed after Hefner uttered the clinching phrase. “Everybody out there hear he said that?”

Hefner shed a tear or two as he entered marriage for the second time in his life--the first time in 40 years. His first marriage, to his college sweetheart, ended in divorce after 10 years. As part of his “Playboy philosophy,” Hefner had preached that marriage killed romance.

Conrad wept throughout the ceremony. A suspenseful moment came in the middle of her vows, when she abruptly said, “I’m sorry.” The lapse was brief, however; it was presumed she was only apologizing for her tears.

The couple were married on the lawn of Hefner’s Holmby Hills estate, near the wishing well where Hefner proposed last summer. Conrad has lived there since her arrival in Los Angeles to become “Miss January 1988.”

News helicopters hovered nearby and paparazzi jockeyed for position outside, hoping for shots from a guest list that included celebrities ranging from Bill Cosby and Jack Nicholson to Jessica Hahn and Roxanne Pulitzer.

Wears Black Tuxedo

Hefner, known for lounging throughout the day in silk pajamas, wore a black tuxedo. His brother, Keith, was best man.

Conrad, known for her nude Playboy pictorials and videos, wore a lacy wreath-style headdress and an off-white, full-length wedding gown of Italian silk, with a brocade top, straight neckline and chapel-length train. She was given away by her father, Robert Conrad (not the actor), of Vancouver. Her sister, Resa Miller, served as matron of honor.

“Even though there is no such thing as love at first sight,” Rev. Ara commented during the ceremony, “I think Hef liked what he saw.”

Their relationship grew, Ara said, into “a love that causes them to feel--and I think this was Hef’s word-- simpatico. “

Ara cautioned the newlyweds that they must nurture their love: “You have to remember the grass isn’t greener on the other side.”

The wedding was followed by a lavish reception with the guest list swelling to 450. Security was a high priority at the private, non-denominational ceremony. Reporters were invited by Playboy Enterprises to view the ceremony via closed-circuit television at the Century City offices of an Australian television network. One reporter requested information from Playboy about Conrad. She was presented with a copy of Conrad’s Playmate video.

Members of the wedding party included Hefner’s children from his first marriage--Christie, 36, now the chief executive of Playboy, and David, 34. Among the guests were former girlfriends and Playboy models Barbi Benton, Sondra Theodore and Shannon Tweed. “I have seen it all. I have seen it all,” Theodore said afterward.

Another former Hefner girlfriend/Playboy model, Carrie Leigh, apparently was not invited. Her relationship with Hefner ended in a $35-million palimony suit in 1987. The litigation has since been dropped.

Conrad reportedly signed a prenuptial agreement, the details of which were not disclosed.