Judith Exner
Encyclopedia
Judith Exner was an American
woman who claimed to be the mistress of U.S. president
John F. Kennedy
and Mafia
leaders Sam Giancana
and John Roselli
. She was also known as Judith Campbell Exner.
. Her older sister Jacqueline (b. 1931) later became an actress and took the professional name Susan Morrow
. Her family moved to Los Angeles
when she was a child. She married actor William Campbell
in 1952, but divorced him in 1958 when she became involved with Frank Sinatra
. An alternative account states that they divorced in 1959, but after having been separated for two years.
in Las Vegas
when Kennedy was still a senator and a presidential candidate
. She claimed to have become one of JFK's mistresses. Presumably, Jacqueline Kennedy was aware of the affair. Later, Sinatra introduced Exner to "Sam Flood", who was actually Sam Giancana
. She later claimed that she had not known about his involvement with the Mafia before Kennedy asked her to contact Giancana on his behalf. She continued the affair after Kennedy was elected president.
The FBI
had her followed and recorded her calls from Giancana's home to Kennedy. The alleged affair between Exner and Kennedy is said to have ended 1962 when the FBI supposedly informed Kennedy of their knowledge of the relationship. She later said that she began the affair with Giancana but when he proposed to her, she turned him down. In a 1996 Vanity Fair
interview, Exner said that she ended the affair, because she got tired of being the other woman. She also claimed to have terminated a pregnancy resulting from her relationship with Kennedy. She also asserted to have carried payoffs from California defense contractors to the Kennedys, including Robert F. Kennedy
.
Her involvement was revealed in 1975 during the investigations of the Church Committee
and first published by William Safire
in The New York Times
. The Committee sent her a subpoena
to make her testify. She later stated that she did not tell everything she knew or suspected, possibly because she was afraid of Mafia retaliation. She denied that she had served as a go-between for Kennedy and Giancana. The Committee did not name her publicly, but someone leaked her identity to the press. At first reluctant, she eventually talked to Scripps-Howard News Service. The publicity was enough to ruin her reputation and earned her the enmity of Kennedy supporters.
woman who might have been a spy during World War II
and his alleged affair with Marilyn Monroe
. Exner also said that Kennedy brought prostitutes to the White House swimming pool.
But 11 years later, in an interview with People
magazine, Exner told a completely different story about Giancana and Kennedy. She stated that during the 1960 presidential election she took messages from Giancana to Kennedy. Judith Campbell later claimed these messages concerned the plans to murder the Cuba
n leader Fidel Castro
. Later, in 1997, she added more shocking allegations to her story, including the alleged abortion.
and painted. She married golfer Dan Exner in April 1975 and they separated in 1988.
. She had been terminally ill with breast cancer
.
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
woman who claimed to be the mistress of U.S. president
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....
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....
and Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
leaders Sam Giancana
Sam Giancana
Salvatore Giancana , better known as Sam Giancana, was a Sicilian-American mobster and boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1957-1966...
and John Roselli
John Roselli
John "Handsome Johnny" Roselli , sometimes spelled John Rosselli, was an influential mobster for the Chicago Outfit who helped them control Hollywood and the Las Vegas Strip. Roselli was also involved with the Central Intelligence Agency plot to kill Cuban leader Fidel Castro in the early 1960s...
. She was also known as Judith Campbell Exner.
Early life
She was born Judith Eileen Katherine Immoor to a family of a German architect in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Her older sister Jacqueline (b. 1931) later became an actress and took the professional name Susan Morrow
Susan Morrow
Susan Morrow was an American actress.-Personal life:Born as Jacqueline Ann Teresa Bernadette Immoor, she was the elder sister of Judith Exner and the first wife of comedian Gary Morton. They were married on December 17, 1953; the marriage was annulled on July 11, 1957...
. Her family moved to Los Angeles
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...
when she was a child. She married actor William Campbell
William Campbell (film actor)
William Campbell was an American actor who appeared in supporting roles in major film productions and also starred in several low-budget B-movies, including two cult horror films.-Career:...
in 1952, but divorced him in 1958 when she became involved with Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
. An alternative account states that they divorced in 1959, but after having been separated for two years.
John F. Kennedy
On February 7, 1960, Sinatra introduced Exner to John F. KennedyJohn 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....
in Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
when Kennedy was still a senator and a presidential candidate
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
. She claimed to have become one of JFK's mistresses. Presumably, Jacqueline Kennedy was aware of the affair. Later, Sinatra introduced Exner to "Sam Flood", who was actually Sam Giancana
Sam Giancana
Salvatore Giancana , better known as Sam Giancana, was a Sicilian-American mobster and boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1957-1966...
. She later claimed that she had not known about his involvement with the Mafia before Kennedy asked her to contact Giancana on his behalf. She continued the affair after Kennedy was elected president.
The FBI
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...
had her followed and recorded her calls from Giancana's home to Kennedy. The alleged affair between Exner and Kennedy is said to have ended 1962 when the FBI supposedly informed Kennedy of their knowledge of the relationship. She later said that she began the affair with Giancana but when he proposed to her, she turned him down. In a 1996 Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
interview, Exner said that she ended the affair, because she got tired of being the other woman. She also claimed to have terminated a pregnancy resulting from her relationship with Kennedy. She also asserted to have carried payoffs from California defense contractors to the Kennedys, including Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
.
Her involvement was revealed in 1975 during the investigations of the Church Committee
Church Committee
The Church Committee is the common term referring to the United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, a U.S. Senate committee chaired by Senator Frank Church in 1975. A precursor to the U.S...
and first published by William Safire
William Safire
William Lewis Safire was an American author, columnist, journalist and presidential speechwriter....
in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. The Committee sent her a subpoena
Subpoena
A subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:...
to make her testify. She later stated that she did not tell everything she knew or suspected, possibly because she was afraid of Mafia retaliation. She denied that she had served as a go-between for Kennedy and Giancana. The Committee did not name her publicly, but someone leaked her identity to the press. At first reluctant, she eventually talked to Scripps-Howard News Service. The publicity was enough to ruin her reputation and earned her the enmity of Kennedy supporters.
Book
She wrote a book, Judith Exner: My Story, which was published in 1977. In it, she insisted that her relationship with Kennedy was entirely personal and she was not in any way an intermediary between Giancana and Kennedy. Exner's book brought to light many stories about JFK which have been widely related since: his alleged affair with a DanishDenmark
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...
woman who might have been a spy during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and his alleged affair with Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
. Exner also said that Kennedy brought prostitutes to the White House swimming pool.
But 11 years later, in an interview with People
People (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
magazine, Exner told a completely different story about Giancana and Kennedy. She stated that during the 1960 presidential election she took messages from Giancana to Kennedy. Judith Campbell later claimed these messages concerned the plans to murder the Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n leader Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
. Later, in 1997, she added more shocking allegations to her story, including the alleged abortion.
Personal life
She lived in Newport Beach, CaliforniaNewport Beach, California
Newport Beach, incorporated in 1906, is a city in Orange County, California, south of downtown Santa Ana. The population was 85,186 at the 2010 census.The city's median family income and property values consistently place high in national rankings...
and painted. She married golfer Dan Exner in April 1975 and they separated in 1988.
Death
Judith Campbell Exner died on September 25, 1999 in Duarte, CaliforniaDuarte, California
Duarte is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 21,321, down from 21,486 at the 2000 census....
. She had been terminally ill with breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
.
In popular culture
Her story was told in the film Power and Beauty (2002) in which she was played by Natasha HenstridgeNatasha Henstridge
Natasha T. Henstridge is a Canadian fashion model turned actress. Her most notable on-screen roles include Species, The Whole Nine Yards, It Had To Be You, Ghosts of Mars, She Spies, the TV series Eli Stone, and the Canadian TV mini-series Would Be Kings, for which she won the Gemini Award for...
.