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Revision as of 08:12, 22 July 2004 by Gamaliel (talk | contribs) (added external link)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Dorothy Mae Kilgallen (July 3, 1913 - November 8, 1965) was an American actress, reporter and television presenter. She was born in Chicago, Illinois the daughter of James Kilgallen, a newspaperman.
Dorothy's early working career was as a crime reporter for which she became famous, along with participating in a world race in which she was the only female contestant, a race which inspired her autobiography, Girl Around The World, which would then be turned into a movie Fly Away Baby. She became a popular Broadway columnist and also co-hosted, with her husband, "Breakfast with Dick and Dorothy".
In 1950, she was added to the American television gameshow What's My Line? where she became more popular on-air, but her personality clashed with her co-hosts so they brought in Arlene Francis for the second episode to complement her personality.
Her reporting had also been a contributor in getting Dr. Sam Sheppard a new trial. She was a critic of the Warren Commission, parts of which she had published to the Journal American before its public release, and had also been able to get an exclusive interview with Jack Ruby.
Kilgallen had long had drinking and drug problems. She checked herself into rehabilitation clinics twice, and had more than once was drunk on What's My Line? (which was usually broadcast live). In 1965, she was found dead in her New York City home. She had swallowed a combination of alcohol and seconal. It is not known whether it was a suicide or an accidental death. Because of her Ruby interview and criticism of the Warren Commission, some people believe that she was murdered by mysterious strangers who apparently broke into her apartment and forced pills down her throat.
At the time of her death, she had been married 25 years and left behind 3 children. She is interred in the Cemetery of the Gate of Heaven in Hawthorne, New York.