About Bill Finger
Milton "Bill" Finger (February 8, 1914 – c. January 18, 1974) was an American comic book writer who is credited with co-creating the DC Comics character Batman with Bob Kane. Despite making major (sometimes, signature) contributions as an innovative writer, visionary mythos/world builder and illustration architect, Finger (like other creators of his era) was often given "ghostwriter" status on comics he created or co-created, including those featuring Batman and the original Green Lantern. In recent years, Finger's lost legacy has been restored. While Kane privately admitted in a 1980s audio interview with his autobiographer that Finger was responsible for "50–75% of all the creativity in Batman", he publicly denied Finger had been anything more than a subcontractor executing Kane's ideas for decades. As a result, Finger died in obscurity and poverty while the Batman brand, and Kane, amassed international fame and wealth. In the 2000s, Finger biographer Marc Tyler Nobleman's research uncovered previously unknown heirs. At the urging of Nobleman, the online comics fan community, and others, Finger's granddaughter revived the fight to restore his lost legacy, which continued for years. In 2015, DC Comics's parent company conditionally agreed to recognize Finger's intellectual property claim as co-creator of the Batman characters and mythos, officially adding his name, going forward, to the "created by" credit line Kane had been contractually guaranteed in 1939. Finger said, "Bruce Wayne's first name came from Robert Bruce, the Scottish patriot. As writer of the Superboy series, Finger created Lana Lang, a love-interest for the teenage superhero. I made Batman a superhero-vigilante when I first created him. Despite making major contributions as an innovative writer, visionary mythos/world builder and illustration architect, Finger was often given "ghostwriter" status on comics he created or co-created, including those featuring Batman and the original Green Lantern.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.