Genevieve C. "Kay" Gardella (February 23, 1923 – April 13, 2005) was an American journalist who worked for the ''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

'' for nearly 60 years.

Early life and education

Born in

Belleville, New Jersey Belleville (French: "Belle ville" meaning "Beautiful city / town") is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States Census, the township's population was 38,222, reflecting an increase of 6.4% from th ...

, Gardella joined the ''Daily News'' as a copygirl two years after graduating from the now-defunct

Upsala College Upsala College (UC) was a private college affiliated with the Swedish-American Augustana Synod (later the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church) and located in East Orange in Essex County, New Jersey in the United States. Upsala was founded in ...

East Orange, New Jersey East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 69,612. The city was List of municipalities in ...

Career

Over the remainder of the century, Gardella worked her way through the ranks of the ''New York Daily News''. During her career, she interviewed

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

Edward R. Murrow Edward Roscoe Murrow (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow; April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broadcasts from Europe fo ...

, and others. She was particularly close friends with

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

and his wife,

Dolores Dolores, Spanish for "pain; grief", most commonly refers to: * Our Lady of Sorrows or La Virgen María de los Dolores * Dolores (given name) Dolores may also refer to: Film * ''Dolores'' (2017 film), an American documentary by Peter Bratt * ' ...

. The paper named her radio and television editor in 1975, a critic in 1981, and finally a columnist in 1993. Gardella often mourned for the "golden age of Hollywood" and criticized declining values. Gardella was a guest on ''

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to March 12, 1973, on the NBC television network, hosted by comedians Da ...

'' in 1972 and appeared as a panelist in four episodes of ''

The New Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show Television pilot, piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debut ...

''. She was very critical of

Howard Stern Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio and television personality, comedian, and author. He is best known for his radio show, ''The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terre ...

in the 1980s. Gardella suffered from cancer in her final years. Her last column appeared on March 19, 2005.

Personal life

On April 13, 2005, she died at

Cabrini Medical Center Cabrini Medical Center of New York City was created in 1973 by a merger of two Manhattan hospitals. It closed in 2008 due to financial difficulties cited by the Berger Commission, followed by a bankruptcy filing. In January 2010, the five build ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. She was married to the late ''Daily News'' reporter, Anthony Marino.Staff
"Kay Gardella, 82, Daily News TV Critic, Dies"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', April 15, 2005. Accessed December 22, 2014. "Ms. Gardella was born in Belleville, N.J., and graduated from the old Upsala College in East Orange."

External links

References

1923 births 2005 deaths American columnists American writers of Italian descent Deaths from cancer in New York (state) New York Daily News people People from Belleville, New Jersey Upsala College alumni 20th-century American journalists {{US-journalist-1920s-stub