Penthouse Magazine Founder Bob Guccione Dies at 79

(HMG Celebrity News) – Penthouse magazine founder Bob Guccione died Wednesday in Texas at the age of 79. A statement issued by the Guccione family says he died at at Plano Specialty Hospital in Plano, TX. after battling lung cancer for many years, although no specific cause of death was given.  Guccione who was born and raised in England,  founded Penthouse in 1965 in England to subsidize his art career. He was the magazine’s first photographer, later bringing the magazine to the U.S. in 1969. Guccione positioned Penthouse as a more explicit competitor to Playboy, with bolder nudes, more sensational stories, and even outrageous letters that made the phrase “Dear Penthouse” famous. In 1982, Guccione was named one of Forbes’ 400 wealthiest people in the world and had an estimated net worth of $400 million that year.  In September 1984, an issue of Penthouse which featured nude photographs of reigning Miss America Vanessa Williams sold almost 6 million copies. But over the next two decades, the magazine’s circulation declined.  Guccione estimated Penthouse made $4 billion during his time as editor, and in later life he invested in Penthouse Boardwalk Hotel and Casino and lost $160 million in that business.  By 2004, a Florida firm acquired the magazine from Guccione in a bankruptcy sale.  Guccione married South African native, Kathy Keeton and they had a son, Bob Guccione, Jr. Kathy Keeton died in 1997 due to cancer.

Source: AP