Dorothy Kilgallen

Dorothy Mae Kilgallen (July 3, 1913 - November 8, 1965) was an Irish-American actress, socialite, reporter and television presenter. She was born in Chicago, Illinois the daughter of James Kilgallen, a newspaperman.

Reporter, columnist and television personality

Dorothy's early working career was as a trial reporter. She covered the trials of Dr. Sam Sheppard (the inspiration for the television show The Fugitive), Bruno Hauptmann, and Anna Antonio. She worked for William Randolph Hearst and other publishers.

Related Topics:
Sam Sheppard - Television - The Fugitive - Bruno Hauptmann - William Randolph Hearst - Publisher

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She once competed with fellow newspaper reporters in a race around the world as the only female contestant. This inspired her autobiography, Girl Around The World, which she adapted into a movie, Fly Away Baby 1937. Beginning in 1945 she co-hosted a radio talk show with her husband, Richard Kollmar, Breakfast with Dick and Dorothy. In 1950 she became a panelist on American television gameshow What's My Line?. The GSN channel often airs episodes featuring her in the early morning hours.

Related Topics:
Female - Contestant - Autobiography - Movie - 1937 - 1945 - 1950 - Gameshow - What's My Line? - GSN

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She conducted an interview with Jack Ruby shortly before her death, during a recess of his trial for the shooting death of Lee Harvey Oswald. Her New York Journal-American column was critical of the Warren Commission. On September 3, 1965, Kilgallen wrote, regarding the assassination, "This story isn't going to die as long as there's a real reporter alive..." She had a history of government criticism, once suggesting that the CIA recruited members of the Mafia to assassinate Fidel Castro. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover kept a file on her activities.

Related Topics:
Jack Ruby - Lee Harvey Oswald - Critical - Warren Commission - 1965 - CIA - Mafia - Fidel Castro - J. Edgar Hoover

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