Christie Ann Hefner was born on November 8, 1952 in Chicago, Illinois. She lived for a short time in Chicago until her father Hugh M. Hefner (creator of the world-famous Playboy empire) and her mother Mildred Williams separated. Later, when her mother remarried, Christie and her brother David moved to Wilmette, Illinois. There she grew up in the suburbs and graduated from New Trier High School. She was an English major at Brandeis University. In her junior year she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and went on to graduate summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and American literature in 1974. In 1978 she became a President's Councilor of her alma mater. After college, Christie wanted to pursue journalism or law, but started working at Playboy as an intermediate step. After being with the company for 5 years and moving up to the position of Vice President. In 1988, she became Chairman & Chief Executive Officer for Playboy Enterprises Inc., taking over from her famous father, and created the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award in honor of him. Later, in 1995, she married former Illinois state senator William A. Marovitz, real estate developer and attorney. Since May 2005, she's been a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post.
