Lange, Kelly

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LANGE, Kelly

PERSONAL: Born Kelly Snyder in New York, NY; daughter of Edmund V. (a pharmacist) and Alice (Reason) Scafard; divorced; children: Kelly Snyder. Education: Merrimack College, B.A.

ADDRESSES: Home—Beverly Hills, CA. Office—NBC-TV News, 3000 West Alameda Ave., Burbank, CA 91503.

CAREER: KABC radio and television, Los Angeles, CA, radio talk show host, 1967-74, television reporter, 1969-70; KNBC-TV News, Burbank, CA, newscaster, host of Sunday Show, and correspondent for Women 2 Women, 1971-98 (co-host 1999-2001). Creator and host of The Kelly Lange Show, as well as host of America and The Great American Garage Sale. Has hosted several programs on NBC-TV, including Rose Parade, 1975-76, and Take My Advice, 1976; has guest hosted the Today Show and the Tomorrow Show; cohosted the Emmy Awards, and has made guest appearances on several television shows.

AWARDS, HONORS: Genii Award, American Women in Radio and Television, 1979, for contributions to the media and to the community; Governor's Award, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, 1999; several Emmy Awards, including outstanding achievement as a news anchorperson; several Los Angeles Press Club Awards for best news series, best news reporting, and best writing.

WRITINGS:

Trophy Wife (novel), Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1995.

Gossip (novel), Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1998.

The Reporter, Mysterious Press (New York, NY), 2002.

Dead File, Mysterious Press (New York, NY), 2003.

SIDELIGHTS: After her divorce in the early 1960s, Kelly Lange was left with "two things . . . a steam iron and a baby." Today she is recognized as a pioneer in news broadcasting and an author of best-selling novels set in the glitzy surrounds of Hollywood. Lange worked odd jobs as a model and as a cocktail waitress to support herself and her daughter before she landed a position as a radio station traffic reporter. Her jobs as a talk show host and newscaster soon followed, leading her to various other television appearances. Lange's success in the field was highlighted in 1979 when she received the Genii Award for successfully combining career, community, and home life. (One other candidate for the award was Barbara Walters; past recipients include Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Mary Tyler Moore, and Julie Andrews.)

As one who struggled to become a success in the male-dominated broadcasting industry, Lange sympathizes with women who are beginning to seek their own careers. She realizes that "everybody feels insecure, I do, you do," but insists "the doors are opening so now you [women] have to get the confidence and the skills, train yourselves and get those jobs." This sense of female empowerment has become an important component of Lange's fiction as well. In an interview with Publishers Weekly, Simon and Schuster editor Laurie Bernstein said, "Kelly has brought . . . women's commercial fiction into the '90s. So we've still got sex, we've still got shopping, but Kelly's backdrop includes a political and social conscience—after all, this is L.A. after the riots."

Even before retiring from daily news casting in 1998, Lange had begun to devote herself to writing novels in which women are called upon to exert their full powers against brutality, neglect, and suspicion. Her debut work, Trophy Wife, revolves around Devin Yorke, an unloved "trophy wife" of a wealthy clothing manufacturer. When the husband she wanted to divorce is murdered instead, Devin takes over the garment business and actually improves production and working conditions for her employees. Her husband's brother and mistress, who team to plot Devin's downfall, threaten her newfound sense of accomplishment. A Publishers Weekly reviewer hailed the book as a "fast-paced, glittery mix of mystery and romance" as well as a "lively, knowing tale."

Gossip and The Reporter follow the same formula as Trophy Wife in that they present wealthy women who must seek to solve murders before they themselves become prime suspects. In Gossip, four long-time friends seek the killer of a man who was husband to one friend and lover to another. Library Journal correspondent Mary Ellen Elsbernd praised the novel for its "spicy plot rife with mayhem, murder, and revenge." Harriet Klausner in BookBrowser deemed it a "wonderful modern work of contemporary women's fiction that will thrill fans of the genre." In The Reporter, it is television correspondent Maxi Poole who investigates the shooting death of her ex-husband, handsome movie star Jack Nathanson. Poole's short list of suspects includes mistresses, a grown woman who was abused by Nathanson as a child, and a plethora of other shady Hollywood characters. A Publishers Weekly reviewer felt that Lange's experience as a reporter helped the plot to "ring bright and true" with "original moments." A TW Bookmark critic wrote: "The Reporter takes you on a virtuoso tour de force of murder and sizzling intrigue in the company of a sexy, chic, and wickedly clever sleuth."

Lange began working on her fiction while still serving as anchorwoman for the KNBC nightly news, and she has continued writing since her broadcasting duties have eased. She told the News-Times that she is pleased with the number of women working in television today. "Some of my colleagues feel they laid the foundation for the women that came after us," she said, "but I owe a great deal to the women who came before me, the real pioneers in broadcasting, many whose names have never been known."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, June 1, 1995, Mary Carroll, review of Trophy Wife, p. 1734; February 1, 2002, Jenny McLarin, review of The Reporter, p. 926.

Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2001, review of The Reporter, p. 1725.

Library Journal, October 15, 1998, Mary Ellen Elsbernd, review of Gossip, p. 98; February 1, 2002, Rex E. Klett, review of The Reporter, p.135.

Los Angeles Times, December 18, 1998, Brian Lowry, "Television: The Anchor and Former 'Weather Girl' Has Decided to Pursue Other Opportunities," p. 6.

People, August 21, 1995, Joanne Kaufman, review of Trophy Wife, p. 35.

Publishers Weekly, January 23, 1995, Dick Donahue, "Wordsmiths Practicing What They Preach?," p. 41; May 8, 1995, review of Trophy Wife, p. 288; September 7, 1998, review of Gossip, p. 85; February 4, 2002, review of The Reporter, p. 56.

Saturday Evening Post, September 1978.

Valley, May 1979.