Cooper Hefner has his father's translucent skin and mischievous smile, which stretches across his face like a flat line. He's lankier but has the same eyes, impenetrable bits of brown seaglass below that high forehead.

"He looks just like his father," marvels a woman catching a glimpse in a dark nightclub. True, if you can imagine Hugh Hefner without the satin pajamas and harem of spray-tanned blondes.

The comparison is inescapable because Cooper, 26, is the only Hef left in the family business. Which, of course, is Playboy.

In the nine months since Hugh's death at 91, Cooper Hefner has stepped fully into his father's role as the creative mind of a sprawling 65-year-old empire — cable channels, cocktail lounges, clothing and accessory lines and, of course, the flagship nudie mag.