Kitty Kelley

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For the actress, see Kitty Kelly.
Kitty Kelley

Kitty Kelley appears at Borders Books and Music in Chicago, April 2010
Born April 4, 1942 (1942-04-04) (age 69)
Spokane, Washington
Occupation Journalist; writer
Nationality American
Notable work(s) Jackie Oh! (1978)
Elizabeth Taylor: The Last Star (1981)
His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra (1986)
Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography (1991)
The Royals (1997)
The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty (2004)
Oprah: A Biography (2010)

Kitty Kelley (born April 4, 1942) is an American journalist and author of several best-selling unauthorized biographies of celebrities and politicians. Her subjects have included Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Reagan, the British Royal Family, the Bush family, and Oprah Winfrey. While Kelley’s 1997 book (The Royals) entered USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list at first place, her 2004 book (The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty) entered the list in second place, and her 2010 book (Oprah: A biography) entered the list in fifth place.[1]

Kelley has been called "the consummate gossip monger, a vehicle for all the rumor and innuendo surrounding her illustrious subjects"[2] but maintains that she is "an unabashed admirer of transparency and believe[s] in the freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment"[3] and that, to that end, her writing is about "moving an icon out of the moonlight and into the sunlight".[2] Her work has been called "encyclopedically vicious"[4] but has also been cited as an antidote to celebrity mythmaking: "Her methods may often be unsound, her facts may sometimes be a bit fictional, but in the end she usually reveals something true about her subjects—which is more than you can say about a lot of celebrity biographers."[2]

Contents

[edit] Early life

Born in Spokane, Washington, Kitty Kelley received a B.A. in English from the University of Washington. She worked at the New York World's Fair in 1964 and went on to become a receptionist/press secretary for Senator Eugene McCarthy.[2]

Following four years as a press assistant to McCarthy, Kelley worked for two years as the editorial page researcher for The Washington Post. Since then, she has had a full-time career as a freelance writer. Her articles have appeared in the New York Times, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, People, Ladies Home Journal, McCall's, Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune.[5]

[edit] Alleged theft & house arrest

In the Spring of 1962 about a dozen sorority sisters at the University of Arizona at the time Kelley was a student there suspected that Kelley was a kleptomaniac.[6] University security chief David Paxton dusted valuable items on campus with “invisible powder”. Explaining the process, Nassau County Police detective Thomas Kubic of the Scientific Investigation Unit explained that in all likelihood, the powder was probably “Sneak Thief Powder”, which he described as “an almost foolproof tool in the fight against sticky fingered thieves” because once a thief touches it, a glow on the thief’s hand will appear when placed under ultra-violet light.[7] Former Sue Nelson (later Mrs Sue Jean Tucson), who was in Kelley’s 1959 Gamma Delta Pledge class was quoted as saying:

“Just as soon as one of the girls reported jewelry taken from her room, a call went out to all sorority sisters to assemble in the main hall…The campus police took the girls, one by one, into a room and sat them at a table. They were asked to place their hands on a desk, under an ultra-violet-ray lamp. Then the rooms fluorescent lights were dimmed. Anyone whose hands had come into contact with any article dusted with powder would glow in the dark under the lamp.”[7]

The young women passed through uneventfully, then along came Kelley who “broke the darkness of the room with telltale luminescence”, causing other students to refer to her as “The Golden Fleecer”, and resulting in Kelley immediately being placed under house arrest and being escorted by campus police. Under scrutiny from campus security, Kelley placed items from her drawers and closet (wristwatches, rings, pendants, brooches, bracelets etc.) on her bed and twenty-eight coeds were brought to Kelley’s room and identified items that belonged to them.[7]

[edit] Aftermath

Following the theft allegations against Kelley, University security chief David Paxton and University of Arizona regents began laying the groundwork to have Kelley removed from the school. Kelley was told that she would be turned over to the Tucson police Department, arrested, fingerprinted, mugged and booked on charges of theft, and then incarcerated in the city lockup until a judge would impose bail and turn the case to the District Attorney. Kelley left the University of Arizona after being told that if she left the campus right then and there and promised never to return, charges would not be made against her.[8]

[edit] Alleged post-scandal breakdown

After Kelley left the University of Arizona in disgrace, her parents refused to let her live with them and sent her to live in Seattle with her maternal grandparents (the Martins). It was here that Kelley suffered a breakdown and used a wheelchair during some of that time.[9]

[edit] Alleged credential falsification

When Kelley submitted details of her biography to publisher Lyle Stuart for the jacket cover of Jackie Oh! she listed one of her credentials as having been an editorial writer for the Washington Post, however the Washington Post claimed they had employed her as an editorial researcher and secretary. In a letter biographer George Carpozi Jr. sent to Kelley, her agent and lawyers on December 7, 1988, he asked "Can you explain why you described yourself as an editorial writer when, in fact, you were not?" As of 1990, Kelley had not responded.[10]

[edit] Books

[edit] Jacqueline Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor and Frank Sinatra biographies

Kelley's first celebrity biography was Jackie Oh! (1978), a life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, which was written on the request of Lyle Stuart, an independent publishing maverick who promoted Kelley's 'Washington insider' angle and launched the book into the New York Times Best Seller List. In the book, Kelley describes John F. Kennedy's womanizing and includes personal "revelations" about Jacqueline Onassis's love life, her depression and alleged electric shock treatment. Kelley's publisher Lyle Stuart was later quoted saying "at the time I believed her shock-treatment story. Looking back, I feel I was had and the whole thing was a fable. I doubt that it ever happened. And knowing how she makes things up, I believe she was sure she could get away with it because no one would sue."[11] Despite such skepticism, journalist Michael Crowley stated Jackie Oh! contained "core truths—including an unflinching look at JFK that showed him to have been 'more of a Romeo than has been previously revealed.'"[2]

This book was followed by Elizabeth Taylor: The Last Star (1981), which was also a New York Times Best Seller in paperback and hardcover.

Kelley's next book, His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra (1986) was declared "an act of bravery."[2] In it, she discussed Sinatra's tumultuous marriages, alleged affairs and his links to the Mob. Sinatra initiated a $2 million lawsuit to prevent it from being published, but dropped the lawsuit.[12] The book was number one on the New York Times Best Seller List, and hit best-seller lists in England, Canada, Australia and France. William Safire of the New York Times said "His Way...turns out to be the most eye-opening celebrity biography of our time."[13] In The Washington Post, Jonathan Yardley, wrote that "His Way is such an improvement over her two previous books ... that comparisons border on the pointless" and crowed that the book "reduces the legend of Ol' Blue Eyes to rubble."[2]

[edit] People magazine story

In 1990, Kelley wrote a piece for People magazine based on interviews she had conducted with Judith Campbell Exner, a former girlfriend of Frank Sinatra's who claimed to have had an affair with John F. Kennedy.[14] Exner told Kelley that she had arranged ten meetings between Kennedy and Mafia gangster Sam Giancana, and they discussed having the "mob" kill Fidel Castro. The story made national headlines, but it soon fell apart: it emerged that Exner had been paid $50,000 to talk with Kelley, was terminally ill, and did not mention these "revelations" in her own autobiography, which had been published years earlier.[2] A former FBI agent also came forward and said that Giancana had been under a federal wiretap, so these multiple meetings with President Kennedy would have been impossible to cover up.[2]

[edit] Nancy Reagan biography

In 1991 Kelley published Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography. She was paid $3.5 million to write the book.[15][16] The book claimed that the first lady had engaged in multiple affairs with Frank Sinatra,[2] that she frequently relied on astrology, that she had lied about her age, and that she had a very poor relationship with her children, even alleging that she hit her daughter, Patti.[2] The reliability and sources were questioned,[2] but it was widely acknowledged that Kelly's book "was no more dishonest than the Reagans' own carefully groomed Norman Rockwell facade."[2] As Slate magazine writer Michael Crowley said, "During the Reagan years Nancy cultivated an image as a doting wife and skillful hostess, a reputation Kelley mercilessly diced with the zest of a Benihana chef."[2]

The book endured far more scrutiny than any of Kelley's others.[2] While the book's "thin sourcing and heavy innuendo"[2] were criticized, Newsweek concluded, "Despite her wretched excesses, Kelley has the core of the story right. Even her staunchest defenders concede that Nancy Reagan is more Marie Antoinette than Mother Teresa."[2] Media coverage included cover stories in Time magazine ("Is She Really That Bad?", referring to Nancy Reagan), Newsweek, Entertainment Weekly ("The Kitty and Nancy Show"[17]) and People magazine ("Inside Kitty's Dish"[18]). Kelley was also spoofed on Saturday Night Live. Kelley appeared on many news shows and interviews promoting the book, some of which were very critical. Regardless, the book was widely recognized as an important landmark in the field of biography: "In terms of publishing here, it is the biggest thing that has happened since Uncle Tom's Cabin."[16]

Former President Ronald Reagan issued a brief statement, in which he said: "While I am accustomed to reports that stray from the truth, the flagrant and absurd falsehoods cited in a recently published book clearly exceed the bounds of decency. They are patently untrue–everything from the allegation of marijuana use [by Nancy and me] to marital infidelity to my failure to be present at the birth of my daughter Patti. Many of my friends have urged me to issue a point-by-point denial of the book's many outrages. To do so would, I feel, provide legitimacy to a book that has no basis in fact and serves no decent purpose."[19]

[edit] Poison Pen

Partly as a result of Kelley's notoriety due to the Nancy Reagan book, she herself became the subject of a critical book, Poison Pen: The Unauthorized Biography of Kitty Kelley (1991), written by journalist George Carpozi, Jr.[20][21] Carpozi said that the book was "full of sex, sin, and scandal", reminiscent of Kelley's own work.[16]

Upon the death of Lyle Stuart, the publisher of "Jackie Oh!", the Washington Post reported that Stuart had commissioned "Poison Pen" when Kelley left him for larger more lucrative publishers.[22]

[edit] British Royal family and the Bush family

In September 1997, Kelley turned her attention to the British Royal Family in The Royals (Warner Books, New York, ISBN 0-446-51712-7). In the book, Kelley stated that the Windsors obscured their German ancestry and described scandals surrounding the members of the royal family.

The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty, was published on September 14, 2004, less than two months before the 2004 U.S. Presidential election. Kelley announced plans for the book shortly after George W. Bush's election in 2001 and worked on it for four years. In "The Family", Kelley claimed that George W. Bush snorted cocaine with his brothers at Camp David during his father's presidency. Kelley cites Sharon Bush, the ex-wife of George W. Bush's brother Neil Bush, as her source for these statements, but Sharon Bush denied making the allegations.[4]

[edit] Oprah Winfrey biography

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On December 13, 2006, Crown announced that it would publish Kelley's unauthorized biography of Oprah Winfrey. The 544-page book, Oprah: A Biography, was released by Random House on April 13, 2010. The New Yorker declared the biography "one of those King Kong vs. Godzilla events in celebrity culture."[23]

Oprah dismissed the book as a "so-called biography,"[24] but did not otherwise comment.

Kelley claimed that Perdue Farms CEO Frank Perdue called Winfrey a gorilla on TV in Baltimore. Kelley identified one of her sources by name as an associate producer of Oprah's show at the time.[25] However, Winfrey’s former co-host Richard Sher claims that this anecdote is completely untrue and confronted Kelley over the supposed inaccuracy.[26]

According to Kelley, Bill O'Reilly phoned Winfrey to complain that she was too left-wing. However, when Kelley appeared on O’Reilly’s show, O'Reilly told her that no such phone call ever occurred and asked Kelley if she was bothered by the inaccuracy in the book.[27] In the paperback edition of Oprah: A Biography, as during the TV confrontation with O'Reilly, Kelley stuck by her sources at his publisher.[28]

Kelley also said that Winfrey’s 80-year-old cousin Katharine Esters told Kelley the secret identity of Winfrey’s biological father (which Kelley declined to disclose). Esters denied knowing this information; she claimed Kelley fabricated much of their conversation and that she only granted Kelley the interview because she was under the false impression that Kelley was working with Henry Louis Gates.[29] Kelley challenged Esters' account.[30] In an addition to the paperback edition of Kelley's book, Esters' daughter supports Kelley.[31] Esters herself conceded that she did tell Kelley that Oprah lied about her history of sexual abuse and exaggerated the level of poverty she endured while growing up.[29] Kelley claimed Oprah's father Vernon also wavered on Oprah's claim of molestation as well.[32] Kelley, however, concluded that "her father and her Aunt Katharine are like the families of other sexual abuse victims; they’re in great denial. But I believe Oprah; she’s a woman who shows the scars of sexual abuse.”[32]

The New York Times criticized Kelley for claiming in the book that she had 2,732 files on Winfrey, only to report the figure as 2,932 elsewhere in the book.[33] Kelley also was criticized for getting her facts wrong on basic historical details about the city of Baltimore at the time Winfrey worked there.[34] She claimed that Winfrey was one of only two black women on Baltimore television at the time when, in fact, there were at least four. Kelley also mistakenly described the producer of a show competing against Winfrey’s as the community affairs director of Winfrey’s station. Kelley claimed that Winfrey got the city of Chicago to build a parking lot for her plane, an allegation the mayor of Chicago denied[35]

[edit] Perception of Kelley

Former President Ronald Reagan described Kelley’s work as containing "flagrant and absurd falsehoods" that "exceed the bounds of decency"[36] and Barbara Walters said books like Kelley’s are all about finding dirt, not the truth.[37] The New York Times claimed that Kelley "just aims for the jugular"[33] and Frank Sinatra claimed Kelley "wrote the kind of lies that sell books and newspapers and magazines."[38]

Time magazine reported that most journalists believe Kelley "too frequently fails to bring perspective or analysis to the fruits of her reporting and at times lards her work with dollops of questionable inferences and innuendos."[39] In addition, Kelley has been described by Joe Klein as a "professional sensationalist"[40] and her books have been described as "Kitty litter."[41] Maureen Dowd, who broke embargo to tout on the front page of the New York Times Kelley's revelations about Nancy Reagan,[42] said "Kelley is a mean and greedy writer, so drunk on sensationalism that she lacks compassion and understanding."[43]

Kelley's citations for her work have been known to raise questions. In her biography of Frank Sinatra, Kelley claimed to have interviewed actor Peter Lawford on several occasions including November 5 and 6 of 1984, even though Lawford lay on his death bed on these dates after part of his stomach was removed. Kelley also claimed to have interviewed Lawford on January 5, 1985, even though the actor had died in December 1984.[44]

[edit] Lawsuits

Although Kitty Kelley claims she has never been sued[45] according to the reporting of George Carpozi, Jr., Kitty Kelley was sued over the content of her book Jackie Oh!, and settled the suit out of court.[46] Carpozi also reported that under questioning from her publisher Lyle Stuart, Kelley confessed to having made up an intimate exchange of words between Jacqueline Onassis and columnist Pete Hamill in the manuscript of Jackie Oh!.[11] Carpozi claims that Kelley faced legal consequences over her Elizabeth Taylor biography too, being compelled to delete disputed material and make substantial changes to what she had written when the book emerged in paperback.[47]

In addition, Kelley's book “the Royals” was banned in Britain because it contained sensational assertions that Kelley would have reportedly been unable to defend in court, and the British media also found Kelley's claims too potentially libelous to report on.[48]

[edit] Awards and Honors

Kelley has been widely recognized by her peers for her contributions to the genre of biography. She is a winner of the 2005 PEN Oakland Censorship Award[49] and the Outstanding Author Award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors[50] for her “courageous writing on popular culture.” She has received the Medal of Merit from the Lotos Club of New York City[5] and was selected by Vanity Fair magazine for its Hall of Fame as part of the “Media Decade.”

[edit] References

  1. ^ Wilson, Craig; Memmott, Carol; Minzesheimer, Bob (April 22, 2010). "Book Buzz: Oprah biography, Meyer's 'Host' land on the list". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2010-04-22-bookbuzz22_ST_N.htm. Retrieved May 7, 2010. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Crowley, Michael (September 15, 2004). "Kitty Kelley: Colonoscopist to the Stars". Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2106746. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 
  3. ^ http://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/author-q-and-a/qa-with-kitty-kelley/
  4. ^ a b "Oprah gets 'vicious' biographer". BBC News. December 14, 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6179623.stm. Retrieved March 26, 2010. 
  5. ^ a b http://www.randomhouse.com/doubleday/thefamily/ata_bio.php
  6. ^ Poison Pen by George Carpozi Jr. pg 335
  7. ^ a b c Poison Pen by George Carpozi Jr. pg 335-336
  8. ^ Poison Pen by George Carpozi Jr. pg 339-340
  9. ^ Poison Pen by George Carpozi Jr. pg 340
  10. ^ Poison Pen by George Carpozi Jr. pg 353-357
  11. ^ a b Poison Pen by George Carpozi Jr. pg 140
  12. ^ http://www.theamericanscholar.org/unauthorized-but-not-untrue/
  13. ^ William Safire, "The Truth About Frank," New York Times 9/29/86
  14. ^ "The Dark Side of Camelot," http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20098379,00.html
  15. ^ Bruni, Frank (September 16, 2004). "For the Queen of Exposé, Four Walls That Won't Talk". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/16/garden/16KITT.html. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 
  16. ^ a b c Svetkey, Benjamin; Appelo, Tim (April 26, 1991). "Kitty Kelley First Lady Of Scandal". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,314098,00.html. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 
  17. ^ "What They're Saying About Kitty And Nancy – EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. April 26, 1991. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,314101,00.html. 
  18. ^ http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20114996,00.html
  19. ^ Goldberg, Bernard (2005). 100 People Who Are Screwing up America (paperback ed.). New York: Harper Collins. pp. 99. ISBN 0060761296. 
  20. ^ "Poison Pen: The Unauthorized Biography of Kitty Kelley". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Poison-Pen-Unauthorized-Biography-Kelley/dp/1569801126. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 
  21. ^ Birnbaum, Jesse (April 22, 1991). "Books". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,972790-1,00.html. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 
  22. ^ Schudel, Matt (28 June 2006). "Controversial Publisher Lyle Stuart, 83". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/27/AR2006062701683.html. Retrieved 17 November 2010. 
  23. ^ http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2010/04/19/100419crbo_books_collins?currentPage=all
  24. ^ Shea, Danny (April 19, 2010). "Oprah Dismisses Kitty Kelley Book: 'So-Called Biography'". Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/19/oprah-dismisses-kitty-kel_n_543390.html. 
  25. ^ Oprah: A Biography (Crown, 2010). pp. 95, 96.
  26. ^ http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/zontv/2010/04/kitty_kelley_oprah_winfrey_ric.html
  27. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etAAPeWeE4E
  28. ^ Oprah: A Biography (Three Rivers Press, 2011), pp. 463-4.
  29. ^ a b http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-04-22/oprahs-cousin-bashes-book/
  30. ^ Kelley, Kitty (April 20, 2010). "Oprah's Aunt Katharine's Denials May Be Pressure From Oprah". Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kitty-kelley/oprahs-aunt-katherines-de_b_544330.html. 
  31. ^ Oprah: A Biography (Three Rivers Press, 2011), pp. 187-8. See also Kitty Kelley, "Writing Oprah: A Biography".
  32. ^ a b http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/36461616/ns/today-today_entertainment/
  33. ^ a b http://www.feedcry.com/archive/aid/655827
  34. ^ Wickham, DeWayne (April 19, 2010). "I knew Oprah; Kitty Kelley's 'facts' need some checking". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2010-04-20-column20_ST1_N.htm. 
  35. ^ Romero, Frances (April 16, 2010). "Does Kitty Kelley Have the Goods on Oprah?". Time. http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1982259,00.html. 
  36. ^ "News in brief". The Daily Telegraph (London). January 24, 2001. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ireland/1319261/News-in-brief.html. Retrieved May 7, 2010. 
  37. ^ "Kitty Kelley discusses Oprah bio". The Washington Post. April 28, 2010. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2010/04/26/DI2010042602936.html. Retrieved May 7, 2010. 
  38. ^ Poison Pen by George Carpozi Jr. back cover
  39. ^ "Meeeow! The Saga Of Kitty". Time. April 22, 1991. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,972790-2,00.html. Retrieved May 7, 2010. 
  40. ^ Klein, Joe (September 20, 2004). "All You Have To Do Is Believe". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,995182-1,00.html. Retrieved May 7, 2010. 
  41. ^ Fact or fiction? The incredible world of Kitty Kelley - Americas, World - Independent.co.uk
  42. ^ "All That Glitters Is Not Real, Book on Nancy Reagan Says," New York Times 4/7/91
  43. ^ Poison Pen by George Carpozi Jr. pg 324
  44. ^ Poison Pen by George Carpozi Jr. pg 357
  45. ^ http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Biographer-Kitty-Kelly-suggests-Oprah-Winfrey-thinks-shes-a-Kennedy-93571014.html
  46. ^ Poison Pen by George Carpozi Jr. pg 138
  47. ^ Poison Pen by George Carpozi Jr. pg 358
  48. ^ Lyall, Sarah (September 22, 1997). "London Journal; How to Review 'The Royals' Without Viewing It". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/22/world/london-journal-how-to-review-the-royals-without-viewing-it.html?pagewanted=1. Retrieved May 7, 2010. 
  49. ^ http://www.penoakland.com/PEN-Oakland-Awards.html
  50. ^ http://www.asja.org/awards/awarhist.php

[edit] External links

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