If, by some chance the search function has failed me again, just merge the freaking thread. The constant uppity admonitions to "use the search function" are beginning to be something of a bore.
1910-1971
Until I started reading Lee Israel's biography of Dorothy Kilgallen, I never realized that the Richard Kollmar I knew as radio's Boston Blackie was the same man married to the columnist. While he did act, the majority of his career was spent behind the scenes, and that's why I've decided to include him here.
He was born in 1910, in Ridgewood NJ. His father, who had failed at running his own business, had settled comfortably into a job for the board of education. His mother, a direct descendant of Daniel D. Tompkins, was insanely proud of her lineage, and instilled the same values in her son.
He ran away from home at a young age, ostensibly to find fame as an actor. When his father located him, he dragged him home and sent him to a farm for juvenile deliquents. He later dropped out of Yale drama.
His rich voice led to many broadway roles as a young juvenile lead, and easy work in radio, most notably as the lead in
Boston Blackie. It was while performing in
Knickerbocker Holiday on Broadway, that he met broadway columnist Dorothy Kilgallen. They were married in April 1940, and subsequently had three children: Richard Kollmar Jr (Dickie), Jill and Kerry (who appeared in the Annette Funicello movie
Pajama Party).
Richard moved into producing, cleverly using his wife's contacts and clout to aid him in his efforts. Unfortunately, many of his more artistic endeavors were failures, he did score some hits with more "low brow" comedies. (When Kollmar discovered he could use topless women onstage, as long as they were still, he found the largest breasted actresses around, and used them as stage decorations).
Kollmar and Kilgallen did a radio show from the dining room of their Park Avenue apartment, called Breakfast with Dick and Dorothy. (you can listen to it
here. (It's track #22 on the quick play list) Here they recounted their Manhattan night life adventures for listeners. They threw huge parties, lived at the Stork Club and enjoyed the prominence they were afforded.
Kollmar cheated on his wife constantly, and numerous consorts became pregnant, and Kollmar spent a veritable fortune paying off these flings. Having converted to Catholicism before his marriage, He shunned admonitions to take precautions, claiming it was against his religion.
Kilgallen died in 1965, and her death is large part of Kennedy conspiracy lore. He remarried in 1967 Kollmar commited suicide in 1971 by overdose.
Random Factoids:
He collected cigar store indians and models of hands.
He owned a nightclub called The Left Bank
He produced Dream With Music, By Jupiter, and On Your Fancy. Dream with Music was written by his wife.
There was a room in the Kollmar's Park avenue Apartment painted ceiling to floor in black with an antique swan carosel used as a settee.
You can listen to Kollmar as Blackie Here