LOS ANGELES, Dec 8, 2003 / FW/ -- Playboy is celebrating 50 years as the world's best-selling men's magazine with a milestone 300-page January 2004 issue, available on newsstands now.

In December 1953, founder Hugh Hefner created the first issue by purchasing now-legendary photos of Marilyn Monroe and assembling it on his kitchen table.

Fifty years later, Playboy magazine has a global readership of 15 million, and with one of the world's most recognized brands, Playboy Enterprises has become an international multimedia entertainment company operating publishing, entertainment, licensing and online businesses.

The January 2004 issue of Playboy features a remarkable mix of articles by the nation's best-known writers along with some of the most talented emerging figures on the literary scene.

Some of the issue highlights include works by Norman Mailer, George Plimpton, Hunter S. Thompson, Jonathan Safran Foer, architect Frank Gehry, the 50th anniversary Playboy Interview with Jack Nicholson, an erotic pictorial by top filmmakers such as Spike Lee, Kevin Smith and Brett Ratner, an "A-List" fashion feature with Hollywood hit makers Billy Bob Thornton, Greg Kinnear, Quincy Jones and Jerry Bruckheimer, photographic retrospectives celebrating the most beautiful images of Playboy's first 50 years, Playboy's 50th anniversary Playmate Colleen Shannon, and much more.

As Playboy's first new editorial director in more than 30 years, Jim Kaminsky has overseen the changes that have taken place in Playboy magazine over the last year.

Kaminsky's editorial vision has maintained the title's trademark mix of non-fiction and literary pieces, humor, style and beautiful women, while incorporating even more in-depth topical journalistic and literary works and newly designed entry points such as graphics, sidebars, photos and more.

Hugh Hefner and Playboy Enterprises Chairman and CEO Christie Hefner rolled out the red carpet in New York City last week for a star-studded 50th anniversary gala on Thursday, December 4.