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Dorothy Kilgallen
Dorothy Mae Kilgallen (July 3, 1913 – November 8, 1965) was an American columnist, journalist, and television game show panelist. After spending two semesters at the College of New Rochelle, she started her career shortly before her 18th birthday as a reporter for the Hearst Corporation's New York Evening Journal. In 1938, she began her newspaper column "The Voice of Broadway", which was eventually syndicated to more than 140 papers. In 1950, she became a regular panelist on the television game show What's My Line?, continuing in the role until her death.
Kilgallen's columns featured mostly show-business news and gossip, but also ventured into other topics, such as politics and organized crime. She wrote front-page articles for multiple newspapers on the Sam Sheppard trial and, years later, events related to the John F. Kennedy assassination, such as testimony by Jack Ruby.
Kilgallen was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of newspaper reporter James Lawrence Kilgallen (1888–1982) and his wife, Mae Ahern (1888–1985). She was of Irish descent, and Catholic.[citation needed] She had one sister, Eleanor (1919–2014), who was six years younger. The family moved to various regions of the United States until 1920, when the International News Service hired James Kilgallen as a roving correspondent based in New York City.
The family settled in Brooklyn, New York. Dorothy Kilgallen was a student at Erasmus Hall High School. After completing two semesters at The College of New Rochelle, she dropped out to take a job as a reporter for the New York Evening Journal. The newspaper was owned and operated by the Hearst Corporation, which also owned International News Service, her father's employer.
In 1936, Kilgallen and two other New York newspaper reporters (Herbert Roslyn Ekins of the New York World-Telegram and Leo Kieran of The New York Times) competed in a race to travel around the world, using only means of transportation available to the general public. She was the only woman to compete in the contest and came in second. She described the race in her book Girl Around The World, which is credited as the story idea for the 1937 movie Fly-Away Baby starring Glenda Farrell as a character partly inspired by Kilgallen.
In November 1938, Kilgallen began writing a daily column, the "Voice of Broadway," for Hearst's New York Journal-American, after the corporation merged the Evening Journal with the American. The column, which she wrote until her death in 1965, featured mostly New York show business news and gossip, but also ventured into other topics such as politics and organized crime. The column eventually was syndicated to 146 newspapers via King Features Syndicate. Its success motivated Kilgallen to move her parents and Eleanor from Brooklyn to Manhattan, where she continued to live with them until she got married.
On April 6, 1940, Kilgallen married Richard Kollmar, a musical comedy actor and singer who had starred in the Broadway show Knickerbocker Holiday and was performing in the Broadway cast of Too Many Girls at the time of their wedding. They had three children: Richard "Dickie" (b. 1941), Jill (b. 1943), and Kerry Kollmar (b. 1954), and remained married until Kilgallen's death.
Early in their marriage, Kilgallen and Kollmar both launched careers in network radio. During World War II, Kilgallen's program Voice of Broadway was aired. It was initially broadcast on CBS from 1941 to 1942, and was picked up by Mutual Radio in 1944 for a brief run. Kollmar starred as the titular character in the nationally syndicated crime drama Boston Blackie. His weekly performances in the series, broadcast live, began in April 1945, when he replaced radio actor Chester Morris, and continued until June 1949.
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Dorothy Kilgallen
Dorothy Mae Kilgallen (July 3, 1913 – November 8, 1965) was an American columnist, journalist, and television game show panelist. After spending two semesters at the College of New Rochelle, she started her career shortly before her 18th birthday as a reporter for the Hearst Corporation's New York Evening Journal. In 1938, she began her newspaper column "The Voice of Broadway", which was eventually syndicated to more than 140 papers. In 1950, she became a regular panelist on the television game show What's My Line?, continuing in the role until her death.
Kilgallen's columns featured mostly show-business news and gossip, but also ventured into other topics, such as politics and organized crime. She wrote front-page articles for multiple newspapers on the Sam Sheppard trial and, years later, events related to the John F. Kennedy assassination, such as testimony by Jack Ruby.
Kilgallen was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of newspaper reporter James Lawrence Kilgallen (1888–1982) and his wife, Mae Ahern (1888–1985). She was of Irish descent, and Catholic.[citation needed] She had one sister, Eleanor (1919–2014), who was six years younger. The family moved to various regions of the United States until 1920, when the International News Service hired James Kilgallen as a roving correspondent based in New York City.
The family settled in Brooklyn, New York. Dorothy Kilgallen was a student at Erasmus Hall High School. After completing two semesters at The College of New Rochelle, she dropped out to take a job as a reporter for the New York Evening Journal. The newspaper was owned and operated by the Hearst Corporation, which also owned International News Service, her father's employer.
In 1936, Kilgallen and two other New York newspaper reporters (Herbert Roslyn Ekins of the New York World-Telegram and Leo Kieran of The New York Times) competed in a race to travel around the world, using only means of transportation available to the general public. She was the only woman to compete in the contest and came in second. She described the race in her book Girl Around The World, which is credited as the story idea for the 1937 movie Fly-Away Baby starring Glenda Farrell as a character partly inspired by Kilgallen.
In November 1938, Kilgallen began writing a daily column, the "Voice of Broadway," for Hearst's New York Journal-American, after the corporation merged the Evening Journal with the American. The column, which she wrote until her death in 1965, featured mostly New York show business news and gossip, but also ventured into other topics such as politics and organized crime. The column eventually was syndicated to 146 newspapers via King Features Syndicate. Its success motivated Kilgallen to move her parents and Eleanor from Brooklyn to Manhattan, where she continued to live with them until she got married.
On April 6, 1940, Kilgallen married Richard Kollmar, a musical comedy actor and singer who had starred in the Broadway show Knickerbocker Holiday and was performing in the Broadway cast of Too Many Girls at the time of their wedding. They had three children: Richard "Dickie" (b. 1941), Jill (b. 1943), and Kerry Kollmar (b. 1954), and remained married until Kilgallen's death.
Early in their marriage, Kilgallen and Kollmar both launched careers in network radio. During World War II, Kilgallen's program Voice of Broadway was aired. It was initially broadcast on CBS from 1941 to 1942, and was picked up by Mutual Radio in 1944 for a brief run. Kollmar starred as the titular character in the nationally syndicated crime drama Boston Blackie. His weekly performances in the series, broadcast live, began in April 1945, when he replaced radio actor Chester Morris, and continued until June 1949.