Did Bill Finger smoke?

Sadly, probably.

I'm vehemently anti-nicotine. 

So early in my Bill Finger research, I was buoyed by a 1999 recollection from Bill's fellow writer and friend Alvin Schwartz: 

"In those days, everyone smoked. Except Bill. I don't recall ever seeing him with a cigarette."

But it turns out I was likely misled. 

Of all the comments I found or extracted on this topic, Alvin's was the only one saying Bill did not smoke. And his phrasing may be salient: Alvin did not recall seeing him smoke. Doesn't mean Bill didn't. Maybe just not in Alvin's presence. Or memory.

Four others said Bill did smoke [though reports conflict on what he smoked]:

• Golden Age comic book artist Irwin Hasen, in 2006: "He always smoked a pipe."
• Nancy Cole, an ex-wife of Bill's longtime friend and sometime writing partner Charles Sinclair, said in 2006 that Bill and Charles smoked constantly, "Charles more."
• Larry Goldman, a first cousin of Bill's first wife Portia, said in 2007 that Bill smoked a pipe.
• In 2021, a man who worked with Bill on army training films in the late 1960s said Bill "smoked cigarettes with a cigarette holder, like the Penguin."

Bill had MIs [myocardial infractions, or heart attacks] in 1963, 1970, and 1973, and his 1974 death certificate gives immediate cause as occlusive coronary atherosclerosis [hardening and narrowing of the arteries]. It does not mention smoking, but in those days, maybe that was typical.