biography

Kitty Kelley

Bill Thompson

Journalist and celebrity biographer Kitty Kelley first rose to prominence in 1978, with her biography of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, a book called Jackie Oh!

Photo: RaymondBoyd51

But it was her 1986 biography of the legendary Frank Sinatra that make kitty Kelley a household name.

Kelley is a meticulous and very thorough biographer, and in researching Sinatra’s life, she uncovered a lot of things he didn’t want uncovered.

Her book was an instant best-seller, but it also got her sued by Sinatra, and it got her attacked by his powerful friends, including talk show host Larry King, who fancied himself a clothes Sinatra friend, and when Kitty Kelley appeared on King’s late night radio show the night before my interview with her, King rake her over the coals.

When I interviewed her the next day, she seemed largely unscathed by the king interview.

So here now, from 1986, Kitty Kelley.

Kitty Kelley is 78 now. Her last book was published in 2012.

Laura Joplin

Bill Thompson
Photo: Elliot Landy

It’s been almost 50 years since the tragically untimely death of Janis Joplin, whose rock, soul and blues set the standard for a whole generation of musicians who followed.

About 30 years ago, I met Janis’s younger sister Laura Joplin, who had just published a biography of Janis, based largely on a cache of letters her sister wrote, back in the day.

As she told me in this interview, it became a project she needed to do.

Here now, from 1992, Laura Joplin:

Had she lived, Janis Joplin would be 77 now. And, no doubt, still setting the standard.