
“Mister Hustler” peacefully asleep.
As reported by various media outlets, Larry Flynt has died. He succumbed to heart failure. The mogul, best known for US men’s magazine Hustler, spent his final hours by the side of his wife Liz and daughter Theresa.
Larry Flynt has died
When young Larry – born in 1942 in Lakeville in the US state of Minnesota – smuggled himself into the armed forces of the United States of America with forged papers, he was only 15 years old. For five years he served in the army.
He then opened a strip club – with overwhelming success. In 1974, he made his dream come true and became a publisher, and the erotic magazine Hustler was born as a counterpart to Playboy from bunny grandpa Hugh Hefner († 2017). Unlike Hefner’s more conservative magazine, the Hustler made more headlines and even more trouble because it was the first U.S. porn magazine to feature close-ups and close-ups of female genitalia. The sales figures, however, continued to give Larry Flynt a boost. In 1975, they went through the roof when the magazine printed nude pictures of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. She was secretly photographed nude sunbathing, which ensured that this issue of Hustler sold more than two million copies. A little later Larry Flynt bought more clubs, a casino, some erotic sites and several magazines.
In 1996, director Milos Forman filmed the life of the porn mogul in “Larry Flynt – The Naked Truth”. It starred Woody Harrelson, who was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role for this film at the 1997 Oscars.
Larry Flynt once referred to himself as a “muckraker who takes care of all(s).” He was married five times, had five daughters and one son, and several grandchildren. He later dabbled in politics, running for governor of California, among other offices. Besides his wife and children, the media mogul leaves behind several hundred million dollars and his gigantic porn empire.
Source: welt.de / Photos: Flickr