My journey ends here...
KILGALLEN Dorothy
Date of birth : July 3, 1913, Chicago, Illinois.
Date of death : November 8, 1965, New York City.
Addresses
* 1934 : 1240 East 39th Street, New York
* 630 Park Avenue
* 1952 45 East 68th Street, New York City (
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).Profession Personality of the radio, television and newspapers.
Reporter to the New York Journal American.
Portrait 
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Story
She was the daughter of a Hearst journalist, James Lawrence Kilgallen (July 11, 1888, Pennsylvania-December 23, 1982, New York) and Mae Ahern (July 27, 1888-October 27, 1985, New York)
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After several stays in various towns through the USA, the family settled in New York City
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She studied for a year at the College of New Rochelle, a Catholic private college in New York. She dropped her studies out and worked for the New York Evening Journal, belonging to the Hearst press group.
In 1936,
in competition with two other reporters, she travelled around the
world, only using means of transportation available to the general
public. Being the only female contestant, she came in second.
She described this event in her first book "Girl Around the World", which was used as the basis of "Fly-Away Baby" scenario in 1937.
She wrote a daily column while she stayed in Hollywood in 1936 and 1937, then launched her column "The Voice of Broadway" in the New York Journal American,
she would write until her death. She used to talk about light topics
from show business and its gossips, but also more delicate ones like
politics or organized crime.
Her column was published in 146 newspapers (
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On April 6, 1940, she married Richard Tomkins Kollmar (December 31, 1910, New Jersey-January 7, 1971,
New York)(
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They had 3 children : Richard Jr (born July 11, 1941), Jill (born July 16, 1943) and Kerry (born March 19,
1954). 
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From April 1946 to 1963, she presented with her husband, a radio talk show, "Breakfast with Dorothy and Dick" from their apartment.
Since 1950 and until her death, she'd be a member of the panel at TV game "What's My Line?", broadcasted on
CBS until 1967 (
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In 1953 she belonged to the guest list who attended the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. Her articles won her a Pulitzer Price nomination during this era.
She wrote several controversial articles : she covered the 1954 trial of Dr Sheppard; he was accused of murdering his wife. Everything led to believe in the doctor's guilt; she wrote her articles about it, maintaining there were evident shortcomings in the prosecution's case.
In 1964, she interviewed Jack Ruby, inside the Dallas courthouse, where he was tried for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, without ever revealing a word of their conversation. She obtained a copy of Ruby's testimony to the Warren Commission, published in many newspapers front pages.
On November 8, 1965, she was found dead at the 3rd floor of her brownstone, only 12 hours after her live
appearence on TV show "What's My Line?" (
). Appartently she died of a fatal combination of alcohol and barbiturates, possibly concurrent with a heart attack.
It has never been established whether her death was a suicide or an accidental overdose.
She was interred in a modest grave at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York
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Link with Marilyn
She published 2 articles about
Marilyn's love life; results of an unbridled imagination or from a great
intuition, neverthless, they paved the way for any kind of speculations.
Since that moment, she spread the praises about Marilyn's singer talent.
On January 16, 1960, she attended the press conference given by the Fox for the beginning of the shooting of "Let's Make Love"
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On August 2, 1962, she aserted that Marilyn was under the spell of personality, more important than DiMaggio, an affirmation which was resumed by other reporters and used a an evidence of an affair with John Kennedy.
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