Many feminists, she says, had problems with Guccione pushing the limits of porn. SMITH: Marianna Beck teaches The Material Culture of Sex at the Art Institute of Chicago. MARIANNA BECK (Teacher, Art Institute of Chicago): I think he explored sexual in a way that was more embracing in some ways than Heffner. And that was to include something unseen at the time. He would photograph the women himself, using a gauzy, almost impressionistic style. He often told the story about how the young man as an artist took on Hugh Heffner and Playboy in the late 1960s. SMITH: Bob Guccione talking to Charlie Rose in 1996. I was a very serious and very devoted painter. BOB GUCCIONE (Founder, Penthouse) I originally saw Penthouse as a way to create an income stream for me so that I could continue on as a painter. But the most unbelievable letter could have come from Guccione himself, something like: Dear Penthouse, I never thought it could happen to a Brooklyn boy born Robert Charles Joseph Edward Sabatini Guccione, a boy who dreamed of becoming a priest and then a painter. SMITH: Cue the next door neighbor and her twin and the pizza delivery girl or some other teenage fantasy.
Unidentified Man: Dear Penthouse, I always thought these letters were fake, and I never thought it would happen to me, but the other day. And the magazine was known for its embellished letters to the editor. ROBERT SMITH: Penthouse went where Playboy wouldn't go often in very graphic close-up. But ultimately saw his magazine sink under weight of Internet competition and family squabbles.Ī warning, this obituary from NPR's Robert Smith's addresses things featured in Penthouse magazine. He built a multi-million dollar empire by pushing the limits of porn. Bob Guccione, the founder of Penthouse magazine, has died.