The Curious Case of Dorothy Kilgallen

Before Barbara Walters, anyone on The View, or even Oprah, there was Dorothy Kilgallen. She was the greatest media star that most people haven’t heard of unless you’re over 70. Even then, she’s been mostly forgotten in the dustbin of the 20th century. Dorothy Kilgallen hosted a popular radio show with her husband, wrote popular newspaper columns and was one of the first personalities to endorse products. She even did commercials for TWA. She was the Oprah of her day. If Dorothy Kilgallen liked a product, America liked it.

What’s My Line?

She reached new levels of fame when she became a regular panelist on the popular quiz show, “What’s my Line?” If you’ve never seen the show, the format was simple. There would be 3 people per episode, 2 regular working people (or groups) and a celebrity. The panelists would be blindfolded for the celebrity round. The person would come out and write their name on a chalkboard (it was the 50s!) and then submit to questions. Using a series of questions, the panelists would have to guess what the profession (or line of work, hence the title) of the person in question. For the celebrity round, they had to guess the celebrity. This created some funny moments for people with iconic voices as they had to disguise their voices.

JFK Connections

Dorothy Kilgallen was riding high as a reporter and media star. She wrote several books and made appearances throughout the country and was in America’s living rooms every week on “What’s My Line?” She, like most Americans, was shocked at the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas on November 23, 1963. Like most Americans, she wanted answers and being the excellent reporter that she was, she jumped into action. However, it would be that action that would get her killed. She traveled around the country interviewing people and taking notes. When she arrived in New Orleans she made contact with someone with definitive proof that the assassination of JFK was not committed by Oswald.

This story has been researched and written by Mark Shaw in his book, “Denial of Justice.” I highly recommend his book because it tells this untold story of one journalist who crossed the wrong people and was killed as a result. The murder was suspicious from the beginning. She was found having consumed alcohol and pills but none of her friends knew her to have a drinking or a drug addiction, including her husband. She was also found in the wrong bedroom in her New York City home. From the moment she was found the whole scene seemed to be staged. The important documents that she had retrieved in New Orleans were gone too.

This story is absolutely fascinating and I encourage you to watch the video above and this longer talk from Mark Shaw to learn more about Dorothy, why she has been forgotten, and about what he has found about her investigation into the JFK assassination. The case is truly curious.

Dorothy’s Last Show

Just for fun, I wanted to post Dorothy’s final show on “What’s My Line?” I was aware of the show but not aware of her investigation into the JFK assassination or her retrieval of documents proving that the official commission report was not complete in its investigation of those fatal events in 1963. When Mark Shaw said that she had changed clothes to do the program, I immediately went and found the episode to see if he was right. He was right. She had traded a long gown for a more business-like suit as if she was planning on meeting someone after the broadcast and didn’t want to be encumbered by a long gown. Compare her outfit to the clothes she wore on other shows or what the other women were wearing. In the 1960s, women dressed for these sorts of things. We also know this is right because many shows at that time were broadcast live and were not taped. If you’ve never seen the show, then this is a good time to get familiar with it too.