Inga Arvad
Encyclopedia
Inga Arvad was a Danish
journalist
, noted for a romantic relationship with John F. Kennedy
from 1941 to 1942 and for being Adolf Hitler
's companion at the 1936 Summer Olympics
. She was born Inga Maria Petersen but changed her name in 1931. She was a motion picture writer for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
in 1945 and a Hollywood
gossip columnist
of 1931. She attended the Columbia School of Journalism in New York, and then moved to Washington D.C. where she worked as a columnist at the Washington Times-Herald. She met John F. Kennedy in Washington through his sister Kathleen
(also nicknamed Kick) http://www.danskefilm.dk/index2.html nineteen years before he was sworn in as President of the United States
. She was investigated by the FBI under their suspicion that she may have been a spy for Nazi Germany
.
In 1935, she interviewed Hitler and this connection to the dictator would color the rest of her life. She is thought to be among the few Scandinavians to interview Hitler. He granted her two interviews, or perhaps three. Arvad had scooped her colleagues earlier by reporting that Hermann Göring
was soon to marry German actress, Emmy Sonnemann. She was invited to the wedding and met important Nazis. Through Paul Joseph Goebbels
she secured an interview with the Führer
.
, which led to her being investigated in America as a potential spy. Hitler had told her that she was a perfect example of Nordic Beauty. A photograph of her with Hitler surfaced and the FBI followed her, finding out that she was dating an American ensign. That the naval officer was Kennedy led to only greater scrutiny and suspicions that were never substantiated. Though she only wrote society news, and Inga never agreed with Hitler's politics, this connection shadowed her professional life.
, J. Edgar Hoover
, then acting director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
, sought blackmail
material to exert political influence on the Kennedys. In November 1941, while John F. Kennedy served as an ensign
in the US Navy
's Office of Naval Intelligence
, he and Arvad began a romantic relationship. Arvad was already being followed by the FBI due to allegations that she was a German spy, as well as her previously being photographed with Hitler. When the FBI discovered that the "ensign Jack" that had been visiting the married Arvad was, in fact, a Kennedy, they extended their investigation. Hoover then had his men photograph the couple and record their bedroom activities with hidden microphone
s, as reported by Seymour Hersh
, the investigative journalist who first broke the My Lai massacre
and Abu Ghraib
torture stories, in his book The Dark Side of Camelot. Hersh maintains that Kennedy tried to recover those audiotapes throughout his presidency.
Kennedy's superior officer at the time, Captain Seymour A.D. Hunter, was quoted as saying that the U.S. Navy looked at Arvad as similar to Mata Hari
. They thought she was using Kennedy to find out all she could about what was going on in the U.S. Department of the Navy. Captain Howard Klingman, then assistant director of the Office of Naval Intelligence
, called Hunter in his office. Hunter was told that Kennedy needed to be put out of the Navy. Hunter pointed out that the situation was delicate because of Joseph P. Kennedy
's having been United States Ambassador to England. However, he believed the young naval intelligence officer was not privy to information that would be more than a bit embarrassing. Hunter advised that Kennedy be transferred to a seagoing unit.
Hoover hoped that Arvad, already suspected of being a Nazi spy for her activities with high-ranking Nazis in the 1930s, would incriminate Kennedy enough so that he could have Kennedy discharged from the Navy and lay ruin to the Kennedy political dynasty. However, Kennedy was suddenly reassigned to a desk job in South Carolina
in January, 1942 and the relationship ended after a few brief encounters. Kennedy and Arvad knew they were being followed, and in the FBI transcripts of their encounters they sometimes spoke to "whoever is listening."
. She appeared in two Danish films, Storm Varsel and the Fejos-directed 1934 film she starred in, Flugten fra Millionerne. She was still married to Fejos when she travelled to the United States, as well as during her affair with Kennedy.
She became engaged to Robert Boothby, a member of Parliament
in England
in May 1945. He met Arvad in Los Angeles, California
while he was with an English delegation to a
conference in San Francisco, California
. Boothby sent her a twenty page letter pleading with her to marry him
after he returned to England. Arvad accepted, but then broke off the engagement because of a compliment Hitler once paid her and the effect it may have on Boothby's political career. The Nazi dictator had said she was the perfect Nordic
beauty. Arvad commented that she despised Hitler's policies and only saw him on the two occasions of her interviews. However, the English press made much of her audience with him and Boothby was soon to be seeking re-election.
Arvad was the mistress of Axel Wenner-Gren
, a Swedish
industrialist on the U.S. State Department blacklist
. The U.S. Navy was concerned that Wenner-Gren's yacht was being used to refuel German U-boats.
Inga went on to marry American
actor Tim McCoy
in 1946 With Tim, she had two sons, Ronald and Terence McCoy. Arvad met McCoy as a newspaper writer when he was making a film short shot on an American Indian
reservation. McCoy and Arvad resided on a 127 acre (0.51395122 km²) estate in Bucks County, Pennsylvania
named Dolington Manor. McCoy moved there after selling his Wyoming
ranch, the Eagle's Nest, where he had lived for thirty-seven years. When their first child was born in August 1947, McCoy was 56. He had three children by a previous marriage.
In January 1946 David O. Selznick
sent Arvad on a tour of twenty-five to thirty American cities to promote Duel in the Sun. She was accompanied by Anita Colby
, Florence Pritchett, and Laura Wells.
Inga Arvad died of cancer on a ranch near Nogales, Arizona
in 1973. She was survived by McCoy, then 82, and her two sons.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, noted for a romantic relationship with John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
from 1941 to 1942 and for being Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
's companion at the 1936 Summer Olympics
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
. She was born Inga Maria Petersen but changed her name in 1931. She was a motion picture writer for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
in 1945 and a Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
gossip columnist
Newspaper Reporter
She was the Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende's beauty queenBeauty Queen
"Beauty Queen" is the second song from Roxy Music's second album, For Your Pleasure. The lyrics refer to Ferry's girlfriend, Valerie Leon, one-time UK beauty queen, B-movie actress and model working in the Newcastle area, circa 1973.-Musicians:...
of 1931. She attended the Columbia School of Journalism in New York, and then moved to Washington D.C. where she worked as a columnist at the Washington Times-Herald. She met John F. Kennedy in Washington through his sister Kathleen
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend
Kathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend , is an American attorney who was the Lieutenant Governor of Maryland from 1995 to 2003. She ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Maryland in 2002. In 2010 she became the chair of the non-profit American Bridge, an organization that will raise funds for Democratic...
(also nicknamed Kick) http://www.danskefilm.dk/index2.html nineteen years before he was sworn in as President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
. She was investigated by the FBI under their suspicion that she may have been a spy for Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
.
In 1935, she interviewed Hitler and this connection to the dictator would color the rest of her life. She is thought to be among the few Scandinavians to interview Hitler. He granted her two interviews, or perhaps three. Arvad had scooped her colleagues earlier by reporting that Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
was soon to marry German actress, Emmy Sonnemann. She was invited to the wedding and met important Nazis. Through Paul Joseph Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...
she secured an interview with the Führer
Führer
Führer , alternatively spelled Fuehrer in both English and German when the umlaut is not available, is a German title meaning leader or guide now most associated with Adolf Hitler, who modelled it on Benito Mussolini's title il Duce, as well as with Georg von Schönerer, whose followers also...
.
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
, which led to her being investigated in America as a potential spy. Hitler had told her that she was a perfect example of Nordic Beauty. A photograph of her with Hitler surfaced and the FBI followed her, finding out that she was dating an American ensign. That the naval officer was Kennedy led to only greater scrutiny and suspicions that were never substantiated. Though she only wrote society news, and Inga never agreed with Hitler's politics, this connection shadowed her professional life.
Romance with John F. Kennedy & FBI Investigation
As an enemy of the Kennedy familyKennedy family
In the United States, the phrase Kennedy family commonly refers to the family descending from the marriage of the Irish-Americans Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald that was prominent in American politics and government. Their political involvement has revolved around the...
, J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
, then acting director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
, sought blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
material to exert political influence on the Kennedys. In November 1941, while John F. Kennedy served as an ensign
Ensign (rank)
Ensign is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank itself acquired the name....
in the US Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
's Office of Naval Intelligence
Office of Naval Intelligence
The Office of Naval Intelligence was established in the United States Navy in 1882. ONI was established to "seek out and report" on the advancements in other nations' navies. Its headquarters are at the National Maritime Intelligence Center in Suitland, Maryland...
, he and Arvad began a romantic relationship. Arvad was already being followed by the FBI due to allegations that she was a German spy, as well as her previously being photographed with Hitler. When the FBI discovered that the "ensign Jack" that had been visiting the married Arvad was, in fact, a Kennedy, they extended their investigation. Hoover then had his men photograph the couple and record their bedroom activities with hidden microphone
Microphone
A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...
s, as reported by Seymour Hersh
Seymour Hersh
Seymour Myron Hersh is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and author based in Washington, D.C. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker magazine on military and security matters...
, the investigative journalist who first broke the My Lai massacre
My Lai Massacre
The My Lai Massacre was the Vietnam War mass murder of 347–504 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam on March 16, 1968, by United States Army soldiers of "Charlie" Company of 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade of the Americal Division. Most of the victims were women, children , and...
and Abu Ghraib
Abu Ghraib
The city of Abu Ghraib in the Baghdad Governorate of Iraq is located just west of Baghdad's city center, or northwest of Baghdad International Airport. It has a population of 189,000. The old road to Jordan passes through Abu Ghraib...
torture stories, in his book The Dark Side of Camelot. Hersh maintains that Kennedy tried to recover those audiotapes throughout his presidency.
Kennedy's superior officer at the time, Captain Seymour A.D. Hunter, was quoted as saying that the U.S. Navy looked at Arvad as similar to Mata Hari
Mata Hari
Mata Hari was the stage name of Margaretha Geertruida "M'greet" Zelle , a Dutch exotic dancer, courtesan, and accused spy who was executed by firing squad in France under charges of espionage for Germany during World War I.-Early life:Margaretha Geertruida Zelle was born in Leeuwarden, Friesland,...
. They thought she was using Kennedy to find out all she could about what was going on in the U.S. Department of the Navy. Captain Howard Klingman, then assistant director of the Office of Naval Intelligence
Office of Naval Intelligence
The Office of Naval Intelligence was established in the United States Navy in 1882. ONI was established to "seek out and report" on the advancements in other nations' navies. Its headquarters are at the National Maritime Intelligence Center in Suitland, Maryland...
, called Hunter in his office. Hunter was told that Kennedy needed to be put out of the Navy. Hunter pointed out that the situation was delicate because of Joseph P. Kennedy
Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.
Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Sr. was a prominent American businessman, investor, and government official....
's having been United States Ambassador to England. However, he believed the young naval intelligence officer was not privy to information that would be more than a bit embarrassing. Hunter advised that Kennedy be transferred to a seagoing unit.
Hoover hoped that Arvad, already suspected of being a Nazi spy for her activities with high-ranking Nazis in the 1930s, would incriminate Kennedy enough so that he could have Kennedy discharged from the Navy and lay ruin to the Kennedy political dynasty. However, Kennedy was suddenly reassigned to a desk job in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
in January, 1942 and the relationship ended after a few brief encounters. Kennedy and Arvad knew they were being followed, and in the FBI transcripts of their encounters they sometimes spoke to "whoever is listening."
Marriages and Romances
Arvad married young, and her first husband was Kamal Abdel Nabi, whom she married at the age of 17 in 1931. Her second husband was Hungarian film director Paul FejosPaul Fejos
Paul Fejos was a film director in America.Fejos was born in Budapest, Hungary as Pál Fejös. He emigrated to the United States in 1924 and became a naturalized citizen in 1930...
. She appeared in two Danish films, Storm Varsel and the Fejos-directed 1934 film she starred in, Flugten fra Millionerne. She was still married to Fejos when she travelled to the United States, as well as during her affair with Kennedy.
She became engaged to Robert Boothby, a member of Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in May 1945. He met Arvad in Los Angeles, California
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
while he was with an English delegation to a
conference in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. Boothby sent her a twenty page letter pleading with her to marry him
after he returned to England. Arvad accepted, but then broke off the engagement because of a compliment Hitler once paid her and the effect it may have on Boothby's political career. The Nazi dictator had said she was the perfect Nordic
Nordic theory
The Nordic race is one of the racial subcategories into which the Caucasian race was divided by anthropologists in the first half of the 20th century...
beauty. Arvad commented that she despised Hitler's policies and only saw him on the two occasions of her interviews. However, the English press made much of her audience with him and Boothby was soon to be seeking re-election.
Arvad was the mistress of Axel Wenner-Gren
Axel Wenner-Gren
Axel Lennart Wenner-Gren was a Swedish entrepreneur and one of the wealthiest men in the world during the 1930s....
, a Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
industrialist on the U.S. State Department blacklist
Blacklist
A blacklist is a list or register of entities who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to blacklist can mean to deny someone work in a particular field, or to ostracize a person from a certain social circle...
. The U.S. Navy was concerned that Wenner-Gren's yacht was being used to refuel German U-boats.
Inga went on to marry American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor Tim McCoy
Tim McCoy
Col. Tim McCoy was an American actor, military officer, and expert on American Indian life and customs.-Early years:...
in 1946 With Tim, she had two sons, Ronald and Terence McCoy. Arvad met McCoy as a newspaper writer when he was making a film short shot on an American Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
reservation. McCoy and Arvad resided on a 127 acre (0.51395122 km²) estate in Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Bucks County, Pennsylvania
- Industry and commerce :The boroughs of Bristol and Morrisville were prominent industrial centers along the Northeast Corridor during World War II. Suburban development accelerated in Lower Bucks in the 1950s with the opening of Levittown, Pennsylvania, the second such "Levittown" designed by...
named Dolington Manor. McCoy moved there after selling his Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
ranch, the Eagle's Nest, where he had lived for thirty-seven years. When their first child was born in August 1947, McCoy was 56. He had three children by a previous marriage.
In January 1946 David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
sent Arvad on a tour of twenty-five to thirty American cities to promote Duel in the Sun. She was accompanied by Anita Colby
Anita Colby
Anita Colby was an actress and model. Colby was born Anita Counihan, the daughter of the cartoonist, Bud Counihan, a legendary figure among New York artists and newsmen. Early in her career, at $50 an hour, she was the highest paid model at the time...
, Florence Pritchett, and Laura Wells.
Inga Arvad died of cancer on a ranch near Nogales, Arizona
Nogales, Arizona
Nogales is a city in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 21,017 at the 2010 census. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 20,833. The city is the county seat of Santa Cruz County....
in 1973. She was survived by McCoy, then 82, and her two sons.