Dorothy Kilgallen
- In full:
- Dorothy Mae Kilgallen
- Born:
- July 3, 1913, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
- Died:
- November 8, 1965, Manhattan, New York (aged 52)
What was Dorothy Kilgallen known for?
What was Dorothy Kilgallen investigating when she died?
Who will play Dorothy Kilgallen in the upcoming movie about her John F. Kennedy investigation?
Dorothy Kilgallen (born July 3, 1913, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.—died November 8, 1965, Manhattan, New York) was an American journalist and TV personality whose work ranged from covering high-profile murder cases to appearing on television quiz shows. She was investigating the assassination of Pres. John F. Kennedy when she died of what was reported as an accidental drug and alcohol overdose. However, her death has been the subject of speculation because some claim she was killed to prevent her reporting from becoming public.
Early years
Kilgallen’s parents were James Lawrence Kilgallen, one of the most respected journalists of his time, and Mae Ahern. Dorothy Kilgallen was born in Chicago, but the family moved around during her childhood, eventually relocating to New York City. She briefly attended the College of New Rochelle but left to follow in her father’s footsteps, taking a job with the New York Evening Journal.
A high-profile journalist
In 1936 Kilgallen entered a competition against reporters from two other newspapers to see who could travel around the world the fastest. She was the only female contestant and came in second place, and the exposure made her a celebrity. Kilgallen turned the experience into a book, Girl Around the World (1936), and cowrote the screenplay for the 1937 movie Fly Away Baby. Soon after, she started writing a column, “Voice of Broadway,” which was syndicated in more than 140 newspapers. The column covered topics such as New York show business, organized crime, and politics. In 1940 Kilgallen married actor Richard Kollmar; the couple had three children. They also hosted a morning radio show, Breakfast with Dorothy and Dick, which aired from 1945 to 1963. In the 1950s she became a regular on the popular CBS television show What’s My Line?, a role she would continue until her death.
Kilgallen’s fame was such that she was often photographed with celebrities such as Frank Sinatra, Rock Hudson, and George Harrison. At times she was asked for her autograph, even as she worked as a journalist. Such a request ultimately led to the overturning of a conviction in a notorious murder trial. In 1954 Ohio physician Sam Sheppard was tried for the brutal murder of his pregnant wife, Marilyn Sheppard. Kilgallen covered the case and expressed shock in her newspaper column when Sheppard was convicted. Years after the conviction she told a group of fellow reporters of an encounter she had with the judge in the case, Edward Blythin, who, upon seeing Kilgallen at the Sheppard trial, asked for her autograph. During that meeting he told Kilgallen, “It’s an open-and-shut case…he is guilty as hell.” Sheppard’s attorney, F. Lee Bailey, deposed Kilgallen as part of his bid to appeal Sheppard’s conviction, which was ultimately overturned.
Probing the Kennedy assassination
Like many Americans, Kilgallen was traumatized by the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy. She had previously met Kennedy at the White House with her son. In a column the week after the president’s slaying, she wrote, “The American people have just lost a beloved president. It’s a dark chapter in our history, but we have the right to read every word of it.” She began her own investigation and dismissed what she called the Warren Commission’s “laughable” finding that Kennedy shooter Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.
While researching and compiling evidence, Kilgallen told her lawyer, “I’m going to break the real story and have the biggest scoop of the century,” according to Mark Shaw’s 2016 book, The Reporter Who Knew Too Much. In 1964 Kilgallen secured a private interview with Jack Ruby, the Dallas nightclub owner who killed Oswald two days after the Kennedy assassination. “Jack Ruby’s eyes were as shiny brown-and-white bright as the glass eyes of a doll,” she wrote. “He tried to smile but his smile was a failure. When we shook hands, his hand trembled in mine ever so slightly, like the heartbeat of a bird.” She also published Ruby’s closed-door testimony to the Warren Commission, refusing to say who provided it to her.
Death and aftermath
On November 8, 1965, Kilgallen was found dead in her Manhattan townhome. New York City’s chief medical examiner concluded that Kilgallen’s cause of death was an accidental drug and alcohol overdose. But Shaw, in his book, argued that her work on the Kennedy assassination, including her suspicion that New Orleans mafia boss Carlos Marcello had orchestrated the killings of both Kennedy and Oswald, might have gotten Kilgallen killed. (Marcello has been cited in other conspiracy theories involving the Kennedy assassination, most notably in Oliver Stone’s 1991 film, JFK.) Shaw cited lab results he obtained that suggested Kilgallen’s drink had been spiked with drugs. He persuaded Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., to open a cold case on Kilgallen’s death in 2017, but Vance wound up closing it, citing a lack of evidence that she was murdered. In 2024 New York City councilman Robert Holden asked District Attorney Alvin Bragg and the police to reopen the case, but they declined.
Movie portrayal
Jessica Chastain will play Kilgallen in Assassination, an upcoming movie on Kilgallen’s investigation into the Kennedy killing. The film also features Al Pacino, Brendan Fraser, and Bryan Cranston.