Johnnie Ray and Miss Kilgallen

by Bonnie Hill and Bonnie Hill Hearn

Based on the real-life love affair of 1950s singer johnnie Ray and columnist Dorothy Kilgallen. He was the world's biggest singing star. She was the most renowned female journalist of her time. They... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1930754191
• ISBN13: 9781930754195
• Release Date: June 2002
• Publisher: Durban House Publishing
• Length: 260 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A good read

A good read. Kilgallen was a looker though it is hard to tell from watching the old kinescopes of What's My Line? She was a great reporter who had many successes but is best remembered for her Voice of Broadway column in the old New York Journal American. Johnny Ray was a so-so singer and never could believe the rumors of his affair with DK. Anyhow, not a bad read for those who remember Kilgallen, Ray, and What's My Line?

Gripping and Sexy

This one really surprised me. I was intrigued by the pairing of Ray and Killgallen, but didn't figure on such a well-written treatment of the unlikely duo. Tough to put aside. Very cinematic....

Back to the 50s

This book transported me back to the 1950s--the Copa, seedy gin mills and tony cocktail parties in New York penthouses, as well as recording studios peopled by some of the old legends. What great portraits of Dorothy Kilgallen, the sweet innocent we all knew from What's My Line, and pop singer Johnny Ray, the "Elvis before there was an Elvis," and one of the original hipsters--and all told from the inside! As I read, it was hard to believe this was a novelization rather than a memoir from each of their points of view. We baby boomers thought we invented sex in the 60s. If so, then Dorothy and Johnny Ray were WAY ahead of their time. The entire country knew and loved the public identities of these two people--now, to get a glimpse at the real behind-the-scenes incidents, and the very human drives that led them through sex, drinking, a sampling of drugs, all the way to the doorstep of the Kennedy assassination mystery, is an exhilerating experience. I felt like I was down on the street with them, smelling the smells, hearing the music, tasting the vodka, waiting for What's My Line to come on the tube.

A surprising and intriguing book.

For anyone who remembers Johnny Ray and Miss Kilgallen of What's My Line fame, this story is a must read. Not only will it create nostalgia for a different time, it opens a surprising window for the reader to peep through.The fact that Johnny Ray and Dorothy Kilgallen had an affair is only the beginning of the surprises in this book.The husband and wife team of Bonnie Hearn Hill and Larry Hill have created a fascinating work revealing an unknown side of two celebreties of a past era.