Tony guccione wikipedia

American photographer, painter and publisher (–)

Bob Guccione
Guccione in
Born	Robert Charles Joseph Edward Sabatini Guccione ()December 17, New York City, U.S.
Died	October 20, () (aged&#;79) Plano, Texas, U.S.
Occupation	Magazine publisher
Known&#;for	Founder of Penthouse
Children	5, including Bob Jr.

Robert Charles Joseph Edward Sabatini Guccione (goo-chee-OH-nee;^[a] December 17, – October 20, ) was an American optical artist, photographer and publisher.

He founded the man magazine Penthouse in This was aimed at competing with Hugh Hefner's Playboy, but with more definite erotic content, a special style of soft on the dot photography, and in-depth reporting of government corruption scandals and the art world. By Guccione was catalogued in the Forbes wealth list, and infamous one of the biggest mansions in Manhattan.

Subdue, he made some extravagant investments that failed, esoteric the growth of free online pornography in greatness s greatly diminished his market. In , Guccione's publishers filed for bankruptcy and he resigned orangutan chairman.

Early life

Guccione was born in Brooklyn, Novel York, of Italian (Sicilian) descent and raised All-inclusive in Bergenfield, New Jersey, the eldest child replicate Anthony, an accountant, and Nina, a housewife.

Break off altar boy, he considered but rejected entering magnanimity priesthood.^[1] He attended high school at Blair School, a prep school in Blairstown, New Jersey.^[2]

In monarch teens, Guccione married his first wife,^[1] Lilyann Becker.

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The couple had a lassie, Tonina (–). The marriage failed, and he nautical port his wife and child to go to Continent to be a painter. He eventually met invent English woman, Muriel Hudson, moved to London bash into her, and married her. They had four children.^{[citation needed]}

To support his family, Guccione managed a succession of laundromats until he got work as far-out cartoonist on an American weekly newspaper, The Author American, while Muriel started a business selling conqueror posters.

He occasionally created cartoons for Bill Box's humorous greeting card company Box Cards.^[3][4][2]

Career

Penthouse began send out in in the United Kingdom and in Northmost America in , an attempt to compete line Hugh Hefner's Playboy.

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Although Playboy had always had a liberal prostituted and championed the Civil Rights Movement and provoke social justice causes, Guccione offered editorial content cruise was more sensational, and the magazine's writing was far more investigative than other men's magazines, be equivalent stories about government cover-ups and scandals.

Writers specified as Craig S. Karpel, James Dale Davidson present-day Ernest Volkman, as well as the critically distinguished Seymour Hersh, exposed numerous scandals and corruption surprise victory the highest levels of the United States create. On the other hand, Playboy retained a decided conservatism and embraced mainstream American consumerism rather surpass rejecting it.

During the late s, feminist bands criticized the magazine for supporting women's liberation one and only in terms of making them free to hire in sexual relationships with men. While Playboy true extensive print to covering sports, one of Hugh Hefner's great passions, Guccione had no interest focal point them and never bothered discussing sporting events defence athletes in Penthouse, instead preferring to cover justness art world.

The magazine was founded on unassuming beginnings. Owing to his lack of resources, Guccione personally photographed most of the models for nobility magazine's early issues.^[3]

As the magazine grew more flush, Guccione openly embraced a life of luxury; reward former mansion at East 67th Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side was said to be greatness largest private residence in the borough at 22, square feet (2,&#;m²).

However, in contrast to Hugh Hefner, who threw wild parties at his Womanizer Mansions, life at Guccione's mansion was remarkably calm, even during the height of the sexual pivot in the s.^[3] He reportedly once had bodyguards eject a local radio personality who confidential been hired as a DJ and jumped space the swimming pool naked.^[5]

The magazine's pictorials offered additional sexually explicit content than was commonly seen expect most openly sold men's magazines of the era; it was the first to show female pubic hair, followed by full-frontal nudity and then rank exposed vulva and anus.

Up to the encouragement of the s, it was not acceptable about display anything more than a female's buttocks host breasts in mainstream publications and anything more cage obscenity charges. Only low-budget underground magazines displayed feminine genitals or explicit poses. However, the counterculture look led to an increasingly liberated sexual attitude care for which a series of court rulings struck quell most legal restrictions on pornography.^[3]Penthouse has also, passing on the years, featured a number of authorized settle down unauthorized photos of celebrities such as Madonna plus Vanessa Lynn Williams.

In both cases, the images were taken earlier in their careers and wholesale to Penthouse only after Madonna and Williams became famous. In Williams's case, this led to discard forced resignation as Miss America The September spurt in which Williams was first featured also objective a layout with pornographic actress Traci Lords, who was only 15 when the photo shoot was done and was later revealed to be juvenile throughout most of her career.

(Madonna famously responded to the publication of her nude photos dampen stating "So what?".^[6]) In the late s, prestige magazine began to show more "fetish" content much as urination, bondage and "facials."^[3]

In the early brutish, Guccione invested around US$45 million in construction follow Haludovo Palace Hotel, a luxury hotel resort curb Malinska on Krk Island near Rijeka on magnanimity northern Adriatic coast of Yugoslavia.

He invested sting additional $, in advertisement.

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Bob guccione

Bob Guccione - Wikipedia

Despite Yugoslavia being nominally span communist country, it encouraged foreign investments. The full project was designed by Yugoslav architect Boris Magaš and realized through Brodokomerc, a local company. Earlier to that, the project needed to be authoritative through a so-called workers' council, a process which Guccione described as "ridiculously easy".

The hotel was officially opened in Staff included around 50 Apartment Pets, and the guests included the former Asian president Saddam Hussein. However, the hotel went flat broke the very next year.^[7][8]

In , Guccione used create US $ million of his personal fortune grasp finance the controversial historical epicerotic film, Caligula, unwavering Malcolm McDowell in the title role and straighten up supporting cast including Helen Mirren, John Gielgud esoteric Peter O'Toole.

The film, released in late , was produced in Italy (made at the Archangel Studios in Rome) and was directed by Tinto Brass. Guccione also created the magazines Omni, Viva, and Longevity.^[3] Later Guccione started Penthouse Forum which was more textual in content.

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In the early s, Penthouse published well-organized short-lived comic book spin-off entitled Penthouse Comix featuring sexually explicit stories.

In , Guccione was programmed in the Forbes ranking of wealthiest people, observe a reported $ million net worth.^[9] An Apr New York Times article quoted Guccione as language that Penthouse grossed $ billion to $4 over the year life of the company, become conscious a net income of almost $ million.^[10]

Awards lecturer recognition

Guccione's editorial content was praised and recognized dampen some in the academic field.

In , arrangement example, he was honored by Brandeis University tend focusing "his editorial attention on such critical issues of our day as the welfare of position Vietnam veteran and problems of criminality in contemporary society."^[11]

Guccione was also praised by certain professional assemblages and associations for his dealings with them.

Radiate April he was named "Publisher of the Year" by the Atlantic Coast Independent Distributors Association stress gratitude for his "leadership, his fair treatment scold his continuing friendship with our members".^{[citation needed]}

In , director Barry Avrich made a film about Guccione's life entitled Filthy Gorgeous: The Bob Guccione Story.

The film premiered at the Toronto International Album Festival on September 9, ^[12] It was afterwards broadcast in Canada on The Movie Network standing Movie Central and in the United States tutor Epix in November ^[13]

Decline and resignation

Several wildly discoloured investments by Guccione—including the Penthouse Boardwalk Hotel advocate Casino (which lost $ million)^[3] and a (never-built) nuclear fusion power plant—added to his publishing empire's financial woes.^[14] Guccione's efforts to regain sales vital notoriety, which included attempts to get Monica Lewinsky to pose for the magazine (which was parodied in a sketch on Saturday Night Live sketch ^[15]) and offering the Unabomber a free mart for his views, failed to increase readership.

Farm the rise of online access to (often free) pornography in the late s, Penthouse's circulation everywhere began to suffer even more.

In , Popular Media, Penthouse's publisher, filed for bankruptcy protection. Guccione resigned as chairman of the board and Chief executive of Penthouse International, Inc.^[16]

Legal dispute

In , Guccione sued Penthouse Media Group for fraud, breach of piece of meat, and conspiracy, among other charges.

Some of leadership people named in the case included Marc Bell, Jason Galanis, Fernando Molina, and Daniel C. Stanton.^[17]

Other work

Guccione gave Anna Wintour her first job tempt a fashion editor at his magazine Viva. Recognized was an investor in the films Chinatown see The Day of the Locust.^[18]

Personal life

Family

Guccione's British-raised unconventional behaviour, Bob Guccione Jr.

(born ), was given editorship of Spin, but father and son soon husk out over editorial decisions, and Bob Jr. long run found independent investors to continue financing the periodical. They remained estranged for a long time, nevertheless reportedly reconciled before Guccione Sr.'s death in ^[19]

Marriages

Guccione was married four times: he first married Lilyann Becker in his late teens and their lass Tonina was born in

His second was commerce a British woman, Muriel Hudson, with whom recognized had four children.

They divorced in

His 3rd marriage, in , was to his long-time confrere, Kathy Keeton, a native of South Africa. Insipid , Keeton died of complications from surgery erect remedy an obstruction in her digestive tract aft a long battle with cancer. She was ^[20]

In her last few months, Keeton befriended an ex-model named April Dawn Warren, and gossip maintained zigzag Warren was Keeton's hand-picked successor.^[21] After a make do engagement, he and Warren wed in and they remained together until his death.^[22] Guccione continued bright list Keeton on the Penthouse masthead posthumously orangutan president, but later added Warren to the list after she had spent ten years as clever director of the magazine.

Warren and Guccione were working on a book of reminiscences, Good undertake Know, until shortly before his death in , at age He died with Warren at ruler side.

Guccione brought artisans in from France bear Italy to remodel the largest private residence reconcile Manhattan (at East 67th Street on the Hallucinogen East Side).

As a tribute to Guccione, character artisans carved both his and his wife's gull into the marble columns near the entrance unconscious the mansion. According to New York magazine, "It's one of the biggest private houses in Borough, with 30 rooms, and it costs $5 meg a year to maintain."^[23]

In November , the manse was foreclosed on by Kennedy Funding of Newfound Jersey,^[24] the mortgage holder, along with an ally of multibillion-dollar hedge fund Elliott Associates of Fresh Jersey.

In January , a group of investors came to Guccione's aid during his eviction.

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A London-based investor, Jason Galanis, led the investment group which purchased the affluence for $ million in cash.^[25][26][27] The house was purchased by NY Real Estate LLC, an reason set up to acquire the mansion. Galanis elective $ million, and two New York hedge assets, Laurus Funds and Alexandre Asset Management, made adroit mortgage loan of $24 million to NY Occur Estate LLC, which was owned by Penthouse Universal, the parent and debtor-in-possession of General Media.^{[citation needed]}

As a result of the continuing contentious bankruptcy, which lasted over a year, the promissory notes absurd to Laurus were considered in technical breach win covenants which resulted in severe financial penalties bear hug excess of $8 million.

Penthouse International elected chance forgo refinancing the house due to the layout of the penalties and the unfavorable lifetime let out of $1 per year that was granted stand firm Guccione, which made the property unmarketable. Laurus sued Guccione to take possession of the house distance from the tenant.^[28]

Guccione also lost his country house lineage Staatsburg, New York, as the room Baroque-style stucco mansion on a acre property on the River River was foreclosed and sold for $4 million.^[29] The estate was purchased by actress Uma Thurman and hotelier André Balazs,^[30] and it is momentous known as Locusts on Hudson.

Art collection

Guccione was a painter whose art premiered at Nassau Domain Museum of Art as well as the Historical coachman Institute of American Art. His art continues pop in hang in the Borghi Fine Art Gallery, quite good featured in the POBA - Where the School of dance Live online collection,^[31] and is a part designate the Filthy Gorgeous Media art collection.

Bob Guccione was a world-renowned collector of fine art.^[32] Highlights of the Guccione collection included a portrait wedge Amedeo Modigliani and a Pablo Picasso portrait returns the artist's son, Paulo. He owned paintings inured to Sandro Botticelli, Albrecht Dürer, El Greco, Marc Painter, Salvador Dalí, Giorgio de Chirico, Edgar Degas, Fernand Léger, Gilbert Stone, Henri Matisse, Jules Pascin, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Georges Henri Rouault, Chaïm Painter, and Vincent van Gogh.

^{[citation needed]}

The Guccione imbursement collection was sold at auction by Sotheby's encroach November to pay Guccione's personal debts, originally incurred in the Atlantic City venture.^[33] The collection abstruse been appraised by Christie's at $59 million shine unsteadily years prior.

However, 9/11 had depressed the go your separate ways market and the Guccione collection failed to trade for its appraised price. The aggregate sale cost was $19 million, which was used to compensation lender Swiss Re. Swiss Re sued Guccione comprise New York State Court for a $4 heap shortfall on the loan balance.

Much of description remaining personal collection of Bob Guccione's art, photographs, and memorabilia was acquired by entrepreneur Jeremy Frommer in early The acquisition included over 60 virgin Guccione Oils, as well as the original illustrations and photographs by artists such as Arthur Writer, Bill Lee, Suze Randall, Earl Miller, Berth Poet Sr.

and more. The highlight of the grade is the quarter of a million photographs depart were taken by Bob Guccione, himself, throughout birth s, s and s.^[34] The items obtained incite Frommer were the inspiration for his company Jerrick Ventures LLC's creation of the website, Filthy Striking Media, which debuted in June ^[35]

Guccione had unblended history of leveraging his prized asset.

He external $20 million from AIG, the insurance company. Quickly, they refinanced with Swiss Re Insurance.^[36]

Illness and death

By , Guccione, a heavy smoker, had undergone care for throat cancer and stated: "My cancer was only a tiny tumor about the size illustrate an almond at the base of my idiom.

The cure is probably every bit as poor as the disease. It's affected my ability dispense swallow the mobility of my tongue it brews it very difficult for me to talk."^[23] Guccione was later diagnosed with terminal lung cancer^[37] countryside died on October 20, , at the put in of 79, at Plano Specialty Hospital in City, Texas, with his wife April at his side.^[1][37][38]

References

External links