birth_date: 1939-12-03 00:00:00
avg_rating: 3.28
name: Lee Israel
about: Leonore Carol "Lee" Israel was an American author, now better known for her literary forgeries than for her two very popular biographies. She began a career as a freelance writer in the 1960s. Her profile of Katharine Hepburn ran in the November 1967 issue of Esquire. In the 1970s and 1980s she wrote biographies of actress Tallulah Bankhead, journalist and game show panelist Dorothy Kilgallen and cosmetics tycoon Estée Lauder. The biography of Kilgallen appeared on The New York Times Best Sellers List but the Estée Lauder bio was far less successful when it was published in the fall of 1985, in direct competition with Estée Lauder's own memoir. To make money, Israel began forging a number of letters, estimated to be over 400, by deceased wr Leonore Carol "Lee" Israel was an American author, now better known for her literary forgeries than for her two very popular biographies. She began a career as a freelance writer in the 1960s. Her profile of Katharine Hepburn ran in the November 1967 issue of Esquire. In the 1970s and 1980s she wrote biographies of actress Tallulah Bankhead, journalist and game show panelist Dorothy Kilgallen and cosmetics tycoon Estée Lauder. The biography of Kilgallen appeared on The New York Times Best Sellers List but the Estée Lauder bio was far less successful when it was published in the fall of 1985, in direct competition with Estée Lauder's own memoir. To make money, Israel began forging a number of letters, estimated to be over 400, by deceased writers and actors. Later, she began stealing genuine letters and autographed papers of famous persons from archives and libraries, replacing them with her own forged copies. She sold both forged and stolen original works.After being captured by the FBI, Israel pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport stolen property in June of 1993 and served six months under house arrest and five years of federal probation. She died of cancer in 2014. A movie about her last book, Can You Ever Forgive Me? a memoir of her crimes, was released on October 19, 2018, starring Melissa McCarthy. ...more
death_date: 2014-12-24 00:00:00