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Who

The grandfather of sleazy tabloid journalism, Dunleavy worked for Rupert Murdoch for more than three decades. Most recently a columnist at the New York Post, the old-school Aussie muckraker retired in 2008.

Backstory

Dunleavy grew up in Sydney and dropped out of school in his teens to work at various Australian tabloids. Arriving in New York in 1966, he found work as a reporter for the local bureau of the Sydney Daily Mirror and joined the Post a few years later, shortly after Murdoch purchased the paper. Dunleavy quickly became one of the most aggressive reporters in town and helped chart a new course at the Post, taking the paper to new circulation highs with his taste for the sensational and obscene. In the mid-'80s, Murdoch moved the pompadour-ed muckraker to his new Bill O'Reilly-hosted tabloid TV show, A Current Affair, where "the king of sleaze" spent nearly a decade. ("Nothing short of vile," the New York Times said of the show at the time.) He returned to the Post in the 1990s to serve as a columnist before retiring from the paper in 2008.

Of note

Described by one reporter as "the last swashbuckling newsman in America," in his heyday Dunleavy was willing to do anything to get a story—including pay people cash money—which explains why he's also been called "the grandfather of questionable ethics." He was one of the first to report on Elvis's overdose (he paid Elvis's bodyguards $50,000) and he landed an interview with Charles Manson's family after forking over $12,000. During the 1970s and 80s, he memorably reported on the Son of Sam, the Robert Chambers' murder case, the John Gotti trial, and even traveled to Cuba to interview Fidel Castro. (The two got blitzed on mojitos, naturally.) Not surprisingly, his taste for the tawdry has landed him in more than a few fights. The sodden journo once punched record producer Phil Spector in the face at Elaine's after Spector pointed a gun at him. And he was bitten (literally, on the hand) by Michelle Cassone—a figure in the William Kennedy Smith rape case—after he confronted her with nude pictures of herself.

In print

Dunleavy churned out a novel, The Very First Lady, about the first female president of the United States who also happens to be a serial killer.

In person

Since his early days in NYC, the Aussie has enjoyed drinking and smoking. In his old Post days, he spent much of his time at Langan's on West 47th, which he often referred to as his office. His taste for the booze led to any number of incidents over the years: Post staffers reported that they occasionally found Dunleavy passed out in front of his desk when they've arrived at the newsroom in the morning, and on at least one occasion, an ambulance was called. "Dunleavy is the man Murdoch always wanted to be—the hard-drinking, down-in-the-gutter journalist," a colleague of Dunleavy's once said. "And Dunleavy would like to have the sophistication and affluence that Murdoch has."

For the record

Dunleavy was used as the model for Robert Downey Jr.'s character Wayne Gale in Oliver Stone's 1994 movie Natural Born Killers.

Personal

Dunleavy was reputedly quite the womanizer back in his prime—a Post coworker explained, "He put the moves on everybody. No woman was exempt." He was previously married to writer Yvonne Dunleavy; these days his wife is Gloria Holl, a one-time real estate agent. They live in Lido Beach on Long Island.

No joke

Dunleavy claims credit for one of the most famous Post headlines ever, "Headless Body in Topless Bar."