Topic: Dorothy Kilgallen

Dorothy Mae Kilgallen (July 3, 1913 – November 8, 1965) was an American journalist and television game show panelist. She started her career early as a reporter for the Hearst Corporation's New York Evening Journal after spending only two semesters at The College of New Rochelle in New Rochelle, New York. In 1936, she began her newspaper column, The Voice of Broadway, which was eventually syndicated to over 146 papers. She became a regular panelist on the television game show What's My Line? in 1950.

Kilgallen's columns featured mostly show business news and gossip, but also ventured into other topics like politics and organized crime. She wrote front-page articles on events such as the Sam Sheppard trial and later the John F. Kennedy assassination, becoming the only reporter to interview Jack Ruby, Lee Harvey Oswald's killer, out of earshot of sheriffs' deputies. The circumstances of Kilgallen's death have been the subject of conjecture. Because the cause of her death was officially ruled as "undetermined," and because she openly criticized U.S. government agencies as far back as 1959, some believe that Kilgallen was actually murdered in order to silence her. She was survived by her husband, both parents, a sister and her three children. They were and (those who are alive) are aware of the murder theory but none of them ever commented on it publicly.

Born in Chicago, Kilgallen was the daughter of Hearst newspaperman James Lawrence Kilgallen (1888-1982) and his wife Mae Ahern. The family moved from Chicago to Wyoming, Indiana and back to Chicago before finally settling in New York City. Dorothy's sister Eleanor, six years her junior, became a casting agent for movies and television shows. After two semesters at The College of New Rochelle, Dorothy Kilgallen dropped out to take a job as a reporter for the New York Evening Journal, which was owned and operated by the Hearst Corporation. She was Roman Catholic.