Victor Lownes

rdf:langString Victor Lownes

rdf:langString Buffalo, New York, U.S.

rdf:langString Victor Aubrey Lownes III

rdf:langString Meredith Lownes

rdf:langString Victor Aubrey Lownes IV

rdf:langString Executive for Playboy Enterprises and creator of the Playboy Clubs with Hugh Hefner

rdf:langString American

rdf:langString Judith Downs

rdf:langString 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.

rdf:langString Victor Aubrey Lownes III