How RFK Jr. Strayed From His Family’s Legacy; the King and Queen of Nightclubs; the Most Sensational Murder Trial of 1944

A special delivery from the Vanity Fair Archive View in your browser | Update your preferences In this week's VF Archive digest, we dive into several falls from grace—from how Robert F. Kennedy Jr. strayed from the Kennedy legacy to the saga of a nightclub duo who found the beat but lost the rhythm. Plus, Dominick Dunne recounts a tabloid sensation that introduced mainstream America to the perversion of the truly swell. The Talented Mr. Lonergan A young, attractive socialite, Patricia Lonergan, is found naked in her bedroom, bludgeoned and strangled to death. The accused: her wildly handsome, devastatingly charming husband, Wayne, a fortune hunter whose lurid alibi shocks even New York's toughest police officers and tabloid reporters. The murder and subsequent trial were the media sensation of 1943 and '44. R E A D  M O R E » They Made Vegas Swing In 1950s Las Vegas, Louis Prima and Keely Smith were king and queen of the nightclub act, drawing Jack Kennedy, Howard Hughes, and the Sinatra Rat Pack. Prima had already captured 1930s New York, cut a swath through Hollywood, and ridden the big band wave when Smith became his fourth wife and the ideal stage foil for his flagrant sensuality. R E A D  M O R E » Far From the Tree In a break from the scion's progressive family tradition, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has become an unlikely evangelist for the anti-vax movement. R E A D  M O R E » Disco Inferno When Chris Paciello—handsome young lord of Miami nightlife, friend of Madonna, and millionaire nightclub owner—was charged with racketeering for murder and bank robbery, his dazzled supporters chalked it up to his New York past catching up with him. But from FBI wiretaps, police sources, and South Beach insiders, Suzanna Andrews reveals the full scope of the case against Paciello. R E A D  M O R E » The Whole Clemente When Francesco Clemente and his wife, Alba, arrived in New York in 1980, they took the art world—and the town—by storm, with a knockout combination of style, beauty, and talent. But a much-anticipated Guggenheim exhibition would reveal the full sweep of Clemente's spiritual, sexually complex work, shaped by influences as varied as Bob Dylan, Allen Ginsberg, and Krishnamurti. R E A D  M O R E » Get on the list Subscribe to our Hollywood newsletter for your essential industry and awards-season news, every day. Sign Up Now This e-mail was sent to you by VANITY FAIR. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2025. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.