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Kitty Kelley (born April 4, 1942) is a prominent American investigative journalist who has written a number of best-selling biographies of celebrities and politicians. She is famous for her thorough research, attention to detail, and ability to get sources to reveal information, and her profiles are frequently spiced with unflattering personal anecdotes and details.
Although Kelley has been fiercely criticized by the mainstream media, who dismiss her work as "tabloid journalism", she has never been successfully sued for libel and has never been forced to retract a written statement. Kelley hires her own teams of fact-checkers and legal advisors to check her texts.
Kelley was born and grew up in Spokane, Washington. She obtained a B.A. in English from the University of Washington in 1964. After finishing her studies, she worked for four years as a press assistant to a US Senator. From 1969 to 1971, she worked as the Washington Post as an editorial assistant. Since then, Kelley has worked fulltime 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 Chicago Tribune.
Kelley's first biography was Jackie Oh! (1978), a life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. This was followed by Elizabeth Taylor: The Last Star (1981). Kelley's next book, His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra (1986), brought her wider reknown and a certain notoriety. Frank Sinatra went to court to try to prevent it from being published as it painted him in an unattractive light, detailing his tumultous marriages, affairs, links to the Mob, and obssession with powerful figures. He failed and the book went on to become number one on the New York Times best seller list, and was a huge seller not only in the US but also in England, Canada and Australia.
Kelley followed this success in 1991 with Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography, which became the fastest selling biography in publishing history. The book received huge amounts of publicity because of the allegations that the First Lady had been involved in White House trysts with Frank Sinatra and that she frequently relied on astrology. Partly in response to this book, Kelley was herself the subject of highly critical volume, Poison Pen (1991), by George Carpozi, Jr. In 1998, Kelley turned her attention to the British Royal Family in The Royals, examining such issues as attempts by the Windsors to obscure their German ancestry as well as more personal matters such as the many scandals surrounding the members of the family.
Kelley's most recent book, The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty, appeared on September 14, 2004, less than two months before the 2004 US Presidential election. It received tremendous attention due to its detailing allegations that George W. Bush snorted cocaine with his brothers at Camp David during his father's presidency. Kelley was widely attacked in the media for the book, with charges of partisanship and challenges to her credibility.
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