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Bill Zehme

Biography

Bill Zehme

Bill Zehme was the author of the New York Times bestseller THE WAY YOU WEAR YOUR HAT: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin’ and LOST IN THE FUNHOUSE: The Life and Mind of Andy Kaufman. He coauthored memoirs by Jay Leno and Regis Philbin, served as a longtime writer at large for Esquire, and contributed to other publications, including Rolling Stone, Playboy and Vanity Fair. A native and lifelong resident of Chicago, he died in 2023.

Bill Zehme

Books by Bill Zehme

Carson the Magnificent
by Bill Zehme with Mike Thomas - Biography, Nonfiction

In 2002, celebrated Esquire writer Bill Zehme landed one of journalism’s most coveted assignments: the first and only major interview that Johnny Carson granted after retiring from “The Tonight Show." The resulting piece portrayed Carson as more human being than showbiz legend, and after Carson’s death Zehme began work on this biography. Though illness prevented him from completing the project before his death in 2023, the pages he left behind illuminate one of the most inscrutable figures in entertainment history. Completed with help from Zehme’s former research assistant, journalist Mike Thomas, CARSON THE MAGNIFICENT offers an honest assessment of who Johnny Carson really was.