Now that Matt Lauer has done himself proud with his sanctimonious interview of Kitty Kelley
— a holier-than-thou attempt to prove that a “Today” show co-host who shills for every piece of
NBC Entertainment drek imaginable can be mistaken for a legitimate journalist — I’m
going to post a profile I did of Kitty Kelly that never appeared in English.
I wrote it for a German magazine many years ago, when her unauthorized biography of Frank
Sinatra, “His
Way,” was published. After interviewing
her at length at her home, which was then in Georgetown, I came away impressed. Despite
the somewhat sarcastic tone of my piece, I had a sneaking admiration for her, and I think it
shows. I also think she hasn’t changed a bit.
While I’m typing the profile into the system, divert yourself with an
excerpt from Kelley’s latest unauthorized book, “The Family: The
Real Story of the Bush Dynasty,” which had the Pecksniffian
Lauer so exercised. “Today” is not above posting it on its Web site. (And scroll
down for the Lauer vs. Kelley video.)
Here’s the way that profile of mine begins:
For a professional snoop, Kitty Kelley harbors a remarkably decorous feeling
about her work. The least suggestion that she takes a certain pleasure in exposing the
sexual peccadillos of her high and mighty targets brings an intense glare to her china-blue
eyes.
Maybe it’s because she wants to convey the idea that she suffers for her work. The mere
supposition that she enjoys tattling about the drug addictions and the desperate
boozing of the rich and famous — worse, that she has become a millionaire by
holding their private tragedies up to public ridicule — puts a wounded expression
on her face and a solemn tone in her voice.
“Take pleasure?” she asks, hardly able to contain her sense of injury. “I don’t do that kind of
thing in my writing. I’ve established a reputation as an unauthorized biographer, but
that doesn’t give me license. I have to be very fair. And I have to abide by the laws of libel,
which I do. I let the reader make up his mind.”
By now Kelley has a small, tight smile on her face. Not content with this rather academic
defense, the 44-year-old author of “Jackie Oh!,” “Elizabeth
Taylor: The Last Star,” and “His Way,” swivels her body on the loveseat
in her Georgetown living room like a petite artillery gun.
She’s now 62 and still a pistol. Hang on, the rest is coming. Read it here.
