Journalist, television and radio personality. She was born in Chicago, Illinois. Her father, James Lawrence Kilgallen, was a well-known International News Service and Chicago Evening-Journal reporter. Her formal education was at Erasmus Hall High School and a year at the College of New Rochelle. She joined her father and went to work at the Evening-Journal, earning a reputation as a crime reporter. In September 1936, she took part in a race around the world in a blimp against two fellow male newsmen. Dorothy left at 11 p.m. on the Hindenburg, hoping to complete the trip in 21 days. During that time, she documented her travels with a laptop typewriter. Dorothy made it in a little over 24 days, coming in second. This race made her famous. Her neighborhood in Chicago was decorated with American Flags and pictures as neighbors waited to greet the reporter. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt sent her congratulations. Her filed reports were compiled in book form and published as 'Girl Around the World.' It fostered the movie 'Fly Away Baby' which was filmed in 1937. A song was also written about her, 'Hats off to Dorothy.' She was transferred from Chicago to the New York Journal-American, where she began penning the column, 'The Voice of Broadway,' which she authored until her death. She wrote about shows and celebrities in New York City, often derogatory, which led to many feuds. Her marriage to actor Richard Kollmar was the social event of the year. Guests included: Thomas Dewey, Tyrone Power, Ethel Merman, and Milton Berle who mingled with 800 other guests. Then the ultimate fame indicator - Ruben's Restaurant named a sandwich in her honor, 'The Dorothy Kilgallen' which sold at $1. WOR Radio launched Dorothy and her husband in a radio show. It became a popular morning feature, 'Breakfast with Dorothy and Dick', which was broadcast live daily from their own apartment dining room. They would discuss the daily news, drink coffee, talk with their children, and discuss Broadway shows and performers in the New York area. The year 1950 saw the beginning of TV's longest-running show 'What's My Line.' Dorothy was a panelist from the beginning until the day of her death. The show featured contestants with unusual occupations who were interviewed by the panelists. Her own father was a contestant on the show. She continued to be an active reporter, covering the coronation of Queen Elizabeth and then the Sam Sheppard murder retrial. Her extensive coverage of the Kennedy assassination pointed out inconsistencies in the Warren Report and she claimed to have true knowledge of the events. Her involvement to this day continues to spawn conspiracy theories about her own death. On the morning of November 8, 1965, she was found dead at age 52 in her Manhattan townhouse, sitting upright in bed, fully clothed. After an investigation by the New York City Police Department and the coroner's examination, it was determined she had died from a combination of alcohol and barbiturate overdose. There was no indication of violence or suicide, and her death might have been an accident. Conspiracy theorists said an important file that she had compiled on the Kennedy assassination was missing and had never been found.