Milton Finger (1914 - 1974)

Born 8 Feb 1914 in Denver, Colorado

Ancestors

Died 18 Jan 1974 at age 59 in New York, New York

Biography

Bill Finger is Notable.

This profile is part of the Finger Name Study.

Milton Finger (February 8, 1914 – January 18, 1974), known professionally as Bill Finger, was an American comic strip and comic book writer best known as the creator, with Bob Kane, of the DC Comics character Batman, and the co-architect of the series' development, who mostly worked as Bob's ghostwriter.

Milton Finger was born in Denver, Colorado on 8 February 1914. His parents, Louis Finger from Austria, and Rose "Rosa" Rosenblatt from Russia, were both Jewish and recently immigrated to the United States from their respective countries. Louis and Rose were married in New York, so it's unclear what took them all the way to Denver to have a child.

It appears that Louis and Milton soon returned to New York, but it is unclear what happened to Rose. Louis married Theresa Stromberg on Christmas Eve in 1916 and it appears she raised Milton as her own child. Louis and Theresa appear to have had 2 more children together, both daughters, and the family appears to have remained in New York City on all the source documentation.

Milton graduated from High School in 1933 in the midst of the nation's recovery from the Depression, and was able to find work as a part-time shoe salesman, but he seemed to have a passion for writing. Milton began to use the name Bill in the late 1930's, most likely because the name Milton sounded too Jewish, and there were a lot of prejudices against Jews at the time. It is fairly certain that his legal name remained Milton, as he still shows up on the 1940 Census as well as on other legal documents as Milton. However, it is clear that his friends referred to him as Bill.

By 1938, he had made friends with Bob Kane, and began to partner with him as a ghostwriter to write for Kane's studio on "Rusty and His Pals" and "Clip Carson". In 1938, Superman was introduced, and writers of all the comics were being asked to come up with similar heroes. Bob Kane had proposed the Bat-Man, a blonde haired, domino masked, red costumed hero with a glider strapped to his back. Bob's initial concept was vastly different than the Batman we know today. He pitched this new hero to his friend Bill Finger. Bill suggested a significant number of changes to improve upon the costume, his approach towards crime, and his motivations and had a great influence on the final version that emerged in Detective Comics #27 in 1939 and Batman #1 in 1940.

Bill provided input into the ongoing development of the character and the storylines, but because of his role as ghostwriter, never received any credit for his contributions. Bob and Bill continued to work together to produce the comics (Batman, Rusty, and Clip), and later comments by Bob made it clear that Bill was the inspiration for much of Batman's key ingredients. From the secret identity of Bruce Wayne, to the details around Dick Grayson and his parents, Bob and Bill collaborated regularly on the details that made Batman an intriguing character to write about.

While Bill may have been full of great ideas and more than willing to share them, he had a reputation of being late on his assignments. Eventually, this became an issue to resolve, and Bob had to reduce Bill's workload and eventually Bill left Kane's studio, and went to work for DC Comics. Bill's influence was now being seen in other characters, including the use of kryptonite, the introduction of Lana Lang, and the Joker. Bill was one of those guys that could look at something and find a way to improve it, whether it be through the introduction of a new plot device, a new character, or a nefarious villain who would become a favorite hero's nemesis.

Bill wrote for DC, but also wrote for Fawcett, Quality and Timely through the 1940's. He also was married during this time, to his first wife, Ethel "Portia" Epstein. They were married in 1943 and by 1948 they had their first and only child, Frederick. Bill and Portia raised Frederick through the 1950's while Bill continued to write for comics, and gained a solid reputation as a man who could deliver unique stories and keep characters fresh.

By the 1960's, Bill's life began to change in many ways. He and his wife began to have issues, which would eventually result in their divorce. Bill had his first heart attack in 1963, followed by two more in 1970 and 1973. He also began working for Hollywood on some screenwriting which resulted in 3 movies, several scripts submitted to two television series, and his first public credit for a Batman script when his name was seen on the 1966 Batman television series for writing credits on the Clock King storyline. Bill also remarried, this time to Edith "Lyn" Simmons in 1968. They only stayed married for a few years, as by 1971 they had already divorced.

Bill passed away in 1974 of a coronary occlusion. His body was found by his writing partner, Charles Sinclair. Several reports were that Bill's estate could not afford a proper burial, so he was buried in an unmarked grave in a potter's field. However, the reality was that his son Fred had claimed his father's ashes and took them to a beach in Oregon where he spread the ashes in the shape of a "bat" on the sand before the waves washed them away.

Bill never received a lot of credit for his writing or for his input into the many characters he co-created with others until after his death. Over time, it became evident that he had not only had great influence over the direction of Batman, but also Robin, Lana Lang, Wildcat, the Alan Scott Green Lantern, the Joker, the Penguin, Catwoman, Ace the Bat-Hound, the Bat-Mite, Clayface, Scarecrow, Two-Face, the Riddler, Calendar Man, Betty Kane, and the All-Winner's Squad (to name a few). His co-creators had known of Bill's contributions and his lack of credit, but it took many years before they began to become outspoken about Bill's talents and about crediting him for his work.

In 1985, DC Comics acknowledged Bill as one of the "Fifty Who Made DC Great". In 1994, he was inducted into the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame. In 1999, he was posthumously inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame. In 2005, due primarily to the efforts of his friend and collaborator Jerry Robinson, Comic-Con created the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. In 2014, he received the Inkpot Award. In 2015, Finger's only granddaughter and DC Comics successfully negotiated an agreement to acknowledge publicly Bill's status as co-creator of Batman, and that all future appearances of the Batman would reflect this. His name was seen first on the 2016 release of Batman v. Superman and following that on the second season of the television show Gotham.

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Finger

• "New York, County Naturalization Records, 1791-1980," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPC7-FN83 : 11 December 2020), Milton Finger, 1919; citing Naturalization, New York, United States, citing multiple County Clerk offices of New York; FHL microfilm 005411405.

• "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MJBR-9NS : accessed 17 November 2020), Milton Finger in household of Louis Finger, Manhattan Assembly District 16, New York, New York, United States; citing ED 1117, sheet 2A, line 27, family 32, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1214; FHL microfilm 1,821,214.

• New York State Census, 1925," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KS9Z-L6H : 8 November 2014), Milton Finger, New York, A.D. 08, E.D. 58, Bronx, New York, United States; records extracted by Ancestry and images digitized by FamilySearch; citing p. 5, line 46, New York State Archives, Albany.

• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X762-7ZK : accessed 17 November 2020), Milton Finger in household of Louis Finger, Bronx (Districts 501-750), Bronx, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 661, sheet 19B, line 63, family 469, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1488; FHL microfilm 2,341,223.

• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQL3-ZMR : 27 July 2019), Milton Finger in household of Louis Finger, Assembly District 8, Bronx, New York City, Bronx, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 3-1326B, sheet 6A, line 38, family 106, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 2493.

• Memorial: Find a Grave (has image)
  Find A Grave: Memorial #158089307 (accessed 24 September 2023)
  Memorial page for Bill Finger (8 Feb 1914-18 Jan 1974); Maintained by Find a Grave. Ashes scattered by his son Fred in the shape of a bat on a beach in Oregon.

• https://www.noblemania.com/2020/05/

• https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/batmans-true-creator-never-got-credit-and-now-his-granddaughter-fights-to-correct-history-6558604