Fred Otash
{{Short description|American private investigator (1922–1992)}}
Fred Otash (January 7, 1922 – October 5, 1992) was a Los Angeles police officer, private investigator, author, and a WWII Marine veteran, who became known as a Hollywood fixer, while operating as its "most infamous" private detective; he is most remembered as "the inspiration for Jack Nicholson's character Jake Gittes in the film, Chinatown,[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/the-real-life-ray-donovans-fixers-behind-tinseltowns-dark-secrets-8707532.html "The real-life Ray Donovans: Fixers behind Tinseltown's dark secrets", by Tim Walker, Independent, July 14, 2013.] and by name as a fictionalized narrator in several books by author James Ellroy. He was interviewed numerous times in the media, including in 1957 by Mike Wallace, an interview that can be viewed online via the University of Texas.{{cite web|url=http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/multimedia/video/2008/wallace/otash_fred_t.html |title=Mike Wallace Television Interview |date=1957-08-25 |accessdate=2013-06-16}}
Early life and family
Fred Otash was the youngest of six children born to Lebanese immigrants Habib Otash and Marian Jabour; his siblings were: Evelyn Abisalih, Grace Steiner, Selma Otash, Lila Merhige, and one brother, Mitchell.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-10-08-mn-826-story.html |title=Fred Otash; Colorful Hollywood Private Eye and Author |last=Oliver |first=Myrna |work=Los Angeles Times |date=1992-10-08 |access-date=2013-06-10}}
Career
Otash worked for Hollywood Research Incorporated, which did business with the tabloid magazine Confidential.{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/rock-hudsons-wife-secretly-recorded-562508?page=2 |title=Rock Hudson's Wife Secretly Recorded His Gay Confession |last=Galloway |first=Stephen |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=2013-06-06 |accessdate=2013-06-10}} He is also known for being hired by Peter Lawford to investigate Marilyn Monroe. An FBI file released as part of the JFK Assassination Records suggest that Otash was investigating Lawford and John F. Kennedy, and attempted to talk a call girl into arranging a meeting with Kennedy in which she would wear a wire to record incriminating statements.{{cite web|last1=Jones|first1=M.A.|title=US Government Memorandum|url=https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/docid-32304320.pdf|website=National Archives|publisher=NARA|accessdate=27 October 2017}}
Personal life
On January 6, 1950, Otash married film actress Doris Houck, at the Beverly Hills courthouse. They were divorced twice: the first order was vacated following a November 1950 reconciliation,{{cite news |title=Divorced Star Rejoins Her Cop a Week Later |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/25228899/doris_houck/ |work=Daily News |date=November 5, 1950 |location=New York, New York City |page=B 10|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = January 25, 2019}} and their final divorce was granted June 19, 1952.{{cite news |title=Vice Squad Officer's Wife Given Divorce |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/25228237/doris_houck/ |work=The Los Angeles Times |date=June 19, 1952 |location=California, Los Angeles |page=Part II - 10|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = November 17, 2018}} {{Open access}} He maintained residences at the Jockey Club, in Miami, Florida, and in Cannes, France. Otash suffered from emphysema and high blood pressure.
Death
Legacy
Otash wrote about his life in his memoir, Investigation Hollywood: Memoirs of Hollywood's Top Private Detective.Otash, Fred, Investigation Hollywood: Memoirs Of Hollywood's Top Private Detective (1976), Henry Regnery Company. {{ISBN|0809280132}}
The 1974 film Chinatown's main character, played by Jack Nicholson, was also based in part on Fred Otash.{{cite web|url=http://digitaljournal.com/article/351945 |title=Private Investigator: 'I listened to Marilyn Monroe die' |last=Morales |first=Eric |publisher=Digital Journal |date=2013-06-10 |accessdate=2013-06-16}}
Author James Ellroy has used a fictionalized version of Fred Otash in all three of the novels in his Underworld USA Trilogy;{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/rock-hudsons-wife-secretly-recorded-562508 |title=Rock Hudson's Wife Secretly Recorded His Gay Confession |last=Galloway |first=Stephen |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=2013-06-06|accessdate=2013-06-10}} Otash appears in The Cold Six Thousand and Blood's a Rover. Otash is also the main character in the sordid, fictional Ellroy novella, Shakedown, which Ellroy was in development with for HBO, in 2013.[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/fx-james-ellroy-fx-fred-otash-444022 "FX, James Ellroy Developing Drama Based on Famed Detective Fred Otash", by Lesley Goldberg, April 22, 2013.] In 2021, Ellroy published a full-length novel narrated by the fictional Otash, Widespread Panic.{{Citation|last=Ellroy|first=James|title= Widespread Panic|year=2021 |publisher=William Heinemann |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1245842550|isbn= 9781785152580|oclc=1245842550|access-date=2021-06-20}} It was followed in 2023 by a sequel, The Enchanters.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=0652756|name=Fred Otash}}
- [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-10-08-mn-826-story.html Los Angeles Times]
- [http://venetianvase.co.uk/2010/01/27/fred-otash-private-eye-to-the-stars/ Fred Otash private eye to the stars]
- [http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/multimedia/video/2008/wallace/otash_fred_t.html Otash Fred at University of Texas]
- [http://www.pimall.com/nais/pivintage/fredotash.html Fred Otash at Pimall]
- [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/2011/02/back-in-the-news-fred-otash.html Back in the News: Fred Otash]
- {{cite web |url=http://www.mstarz.com/articles/14170/20130610/marylin-monroe-death-fred-otash-witnessed-murder-heard-tapes-sex.htm|title=Marilyn Monroe Death: Fred Otash Witnessed Murder? Heard Tapes Of Sex Scandal With President Kennedy, Conspiracy Plot Thickens |last=Gebremariam |first=Mereb |authorlink= |date=10 June 2013 |work=Mstars News |accessdate=11 June 2013}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.news.com.au/world-news/marilyn-monroe8217s-death-sex-with-jfk-taped-by-private-eye-fred-otash/story-fndir2ev-1226661134249|title=Marilyn Monroe's death, sex with JFK, taped by private eye Fred Otash |last= |first= | authorlink= |date=10 June 2013|work=news.com.au |accessdate=11 June 2013}}
- {{cite web |url=http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/78489128.html|title= Old Hollywood Post: The Fred Otash Files |last= |first= |authorlink= |publisher= |date=7 June 2013 |accessdate=24 June 2013}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.ibtimes.com/marilyn-monroe-sex-tape-private-investigator-fred-otash-reveals-he-spied-jfk-love-affair-1301755#|title= Marilyn Monroe Sex Tape: Private Investigator Fred Otash Reveals He Spied On JFK Love Affair |last=Schumann |first=Rebecka |authorlink= |work= International Business Times |date=11 June 2013 |accessdate=24 June 2013}}
- {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160107232141/http://blog.everlasting-star.net/2013/06/relationships/fred-otash-the-marilyn-tapes/ Fred Otash The Marilyn Tapes]}}
- http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/rock-hudsons-wife-secretly-recorded-562508?page=show published June 6, 2013, retrieved June 24, 2013
- {{Find a Grave|85923842|accessdate= 11 June 2013}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Otash, Fred}}
Category:Private investigators
Category:Los Angeles Police Department officers
Category:American people of Lebanese descent
Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II