Bill Zehme Obituary – Cause of Death: Iconic Chicago author Bill Zehme dies at 64.
Bill wrote biographies of Frank Sinatra, Andy Kaufman and Jay Leno.
Zehme, 64, died Sunday at Weiss Memorial Hospital following a long and courageous battle with cancer.
Zehme would focus all of his attention and his Midwestern charm on you and make you feel as cool as a Bombay Sapphire cocktail, straight up, with a twist, at Jilly’s, whether you were a budding Chicago writer or the king of late-night television.
When magazines still mattered, Zehme wrote for Esquire, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Playboy, and other prestigious publications. He peeled back the glitzy exterior of fame to reveal the true person beneath, penning best-selling biographies of Jay Leno, Andy Kaufman, and his idol, Frank Sinatra.
Christie Hefner, the daughter of Hugh Hefner, the creator of Playboy magazine, and the former chairwoman and CEO of Playboy Enterprises, praised Bill as “first and foremost an incredibly talented writer who had this rare ability to get inside the head and heart of famous people, everyone from Andy Kaufman and Frank Sinatra, very much with my dad.” He was a close friend and one of the sweetest, funniest individuals I have ever met.