Judith Exner
Judith Exner | |
---|---|
Born | Judith Eileen Katherine Immoor January 11, 1934 Fort Lee, New Jersey, U.S. |
Died | September 24, 1999 Duarte, California, U.S. | (aged 65)
Other names | Judith Campbell Judith Campbell Exner |
Spouses | William Campbell (m. 1952; div. 1958)Dan Exner
(m. 1975; sep. 1988) |
Children | 1 |
Relatives | Susan Morrow (sister) |
Judith Exner (January 11, 1934 – September 24, 1999) was an American woman who claimed to be the mistress of
Early life
She was born Judith Eileen Katherine Immoor in Fort Lee, New Jersey; Her parents were Frederick Immoor, an architect of German descent, and Katherine (née Shea), who was of Irish descent.[1][2] When she was a child, her family moved to the Los Angeles area, where she grew up in Pacific Palisades.[3] After her mother nearly died in an auto accident, Judith withdrew from school at the age of 14 and was tutored at home.[3] Her older sister Jacqueline later became an actress and took the professional name Susan Morrow.[4]
Marriage and family
In 1952, at the age of 18, Judith married actor
She claimed to have had an 18-month relationship with then-Senator John F. Kennedy, beginning in 1960, which continued after he was elected President of the United States.[3] She had a son, David Bohrer, from a later relationship. In 1975, Campbell married again, to Dan Exner, a golfer. They separated in 1988.
John F. Kennedy
According to Michael O'Brien of the Washington Monthly, on February 7, 1960, Frank Sinatra and Campbell were in Las Vegas, where Sinatra introduced her to John F. Kennedy, then a senator from Massachusetts and presidential candidate. In her 1977 memoir, she said that she became one of JFK's mistresses for a period of about two years, frequently visiting him in the White House after he was elected president. Her account was supported by phone records and other documentation, although Kennedy staff and supporters attacked her veracity when she published her memoir.[3] A few months later in 1960, Sinatra introduced Campbell to "Sam Flood," who was actually Sam Giancana, the leading figure in the Chicago Mafia.[3] She also became involved with him and knew his associate John Roselli.
Church Committee
Exner received national media attention when she testified in 1975 before the Church Committee investigating CIA assassination attempts on Fidel Castro.[5] Roselli testified to the committee about Mafia involvement in the CIA attempt on Castro's life.[3] When the Church Committee report was released in December 1975, it said that a "close friend" of President Kennedy had also been a close friend of mobsters John Roselli and Sam Giancana."[3] Campbell's identity as the close friend was leaked to The Washington Post, which publicized it.[3] William Safire in The New York Times also published it.[6] The Committee had sent Exner a subpoena to make her testify. By then, married to Dan Exner, Judith Exner called a press conference that month and denied any knowledge of Mafia involvement with Kennedy.
Memoir
In 1977, Exner published Judith Exner: My Story.[6] In her memoir, she said that her relationship with Kennedy was entirely personal. She also said that Frank Sinatra later introduced her to Sam Giancana, with whom she also became intimate. She said that Giancana never asked her for any information related to Kennedy. She also said that John Roselli was her friend.[3]
Aside from her own alleged affair with JFK, Exner claimed to have knowledge of other women who had affairs with Kennedy. These affairs included one with Danish journalist Inga Arvad between late 1941 and early 1942.[7] Exner also said that Kennedy brought prostitutes to the White House swimming pool.[6] Journalists and some historians have also alleged that Kennedy had a number of affairs, citing a memo by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover as part of the evidence.[8]
Exner said that President Kennedy's Special Assistant David Powers helped set up encounters with President Kennedy. Powers later stated that Kennedy never had an affair with Exner.[9]
Later accounts
In a 1988 interview with
In 1997, Exner alleged more details and changed her story, in separate interviews with Liz Smith of Vanity Fair and Seymour Hersh. She said Kennedy told her of his plans related to Cuba, and used her to carry money to Giancana, as well as to arrange numerous meetings between he, Giancana and Roselli. She claimed to Smith to have terminated a pregnancy resulting from a last encounter in 1962 with Kennedy.[4] She said that she had carried payoffs from California defense contractors to the Kennedys, including Robert F. Kennedy. A witness of Hersh's who appeared to support Exner's story of carrying money to Giancana later dropped his story.[3]
Both liberal and conservative critics have attacked these later accounts. They depend mostly on Exner and are not supported by what is known of Kennedy and his staff. Her earlier accounts of her affair with Kennedy were supported by
Later years and death
Exner lived in Newport Beach and was a painter. She died on September 24, 1999, in Duarte, California, from breast cancer.[4]
In popular culture
Exner's memoir was adapted as a made-for-TV movie, Power and Beauty (2002), directed by Susan Seidelman, in which she was played by Natasha Henstridge. Material was added from accounts published after her 1977 memoir.
In the Series 7 episode of Red Dwarf "Tikka to Ride" Exner is alluded to when, in an alternate timeline, it's discovered that she had been the mistress of both Kennedy and Giancana resulting in Kennedy being impeached.
Judy Campbell was portrayed in the 1998
References
- ^ Hodgson, Godfrey (September 26, 1999). "Judith Campbell Exner". The Guardian.
- ^ "Susan Morrow – The Private Life and Times of Susan Morrow. Susan Morrow Pictures".
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n O'Brien, Michael (December 1999). "The Exner File: Truth and fantasy from a president's mistress". The Washington Monthly.
- ^ a b c Pace, Eric (September 27, 1999). "Judith Exner Is Dead at 65; Claimed Affair With Kennedy". The New York Times. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
- Assassination Records Review Board (September 30, 1998). "Chapter 6, Part I: The Quest for Additional Information and Records in Federal Government Offices". Final Report of the Assassination Records Review Board(PDF). Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. p. 109. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
- ^ ISBN 0-465-04195-7. Note: Frum's account of Safire being the first to print her name in connection to the Church Committee was contradicted by O'Brien, who said it was leaked to The Washington Post.
- ISBN 0-316-36067-8.
- ^ THOMAS POWERS, "The Sins of a President", New York Times, November 30, 1997
- ^ Judith Exner: From the Outfit to the Oval Office Archived October 16, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
Further reading
- Safire, William (March 12, 1990). "Essay – A Bittersweet Ending". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
- Hirshey, Gerri (April 1, 1990). "The Last Act of Judith Exner". Vanity Fair. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
- Morrison, Patt (March 1, 1998). "Judith Exner and the End of Innocence". The LA Times. Retrieved September 9, 2020.[dead link]
- Safire, William (October 4, 1999). "Essay – The President's Friend". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 13, 2016.