Donation from Playboy boss rescues iconic Hollywood sign from demolition.
His magazines, movies and TV shows have been providing a public service for hairy-palmed teenage boys the world over for more than 40 years. But Playboy boss Hugh Hefner has now made an even bigger community-minded statement by helping save the iconic Hollywood sign from demolition.
The soft-porn magnate gave $900,000 (£580,000) to the fund which was set up to stop the site being developed. The sign is owned by the city, but the property around it belongs to a group of Chicago-based investors.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger described the news as “the Hollywood ending we hoped for”.
Schwarzenegger said Hefner’s donation and a $500,000 matching grant brought to an end a $12.5m fundraising campaign. It means 138 acres around the hillside sign will be protected from developers, who wanted to turn the land into high-price housing estates.
Hefner, who calls the sign “Hollywood’s Eiffel Tower”, said: “My childhood dreams and fantasies came from the movies, and the images created in Hollywood had a major influence on my life and Playboy.”
Read more here.
