Celebrity 'Penthouse' Founder Bob Guccione Dies at 79 The adult-magazine publisher passed away Wednesday in Texas after a battle with cancer By People Staff Published on October 21, 2010 07:00 AM Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Ted Thai/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Bob Guccione, the adult-magazine publisher who challenged Hugh Hefner’s Playboy empire with his more risqué Penthouse magazine, has died of cancer at 79. Guccione passed away on Wednesday in a Texas hospital. He began publishing Penthouse in the U.S. in 1969 and resigned as publisher in 2003.– Tim Nudd