E! True Hollywood Story: Karyn Kupcinet

A biographical documentary on Karyn Kupcinet, a rising Hollywood star in the early 60s, as well as her untimely death, ruled a homicide by police.

0:00Copy video clip URL Video begins with the intro to the video: a slow camera pan over old newspaper clippings and photos of Karyn Kupcinet. An old audio clip plays from the beginning of Kupcinet’s stardom: “We mention this very delightful little lady. Do write her name down, because a couple years from now she’s going to be a very, very important name in the motion picture business, stage too, and her name is Karyn Kupcinet.”

0:39Copy video clip URL The music picks up as photos from a photoshoot of Kupcinet flash across the screen. A narrator explains Kupcinet’s untimely demise and her enduring legacy, introducing the story of the documentary.

2:15Copy video clip URL Title card plays, featuring clips from old newsreels about Kupcinet. 

2:31Copy video clip URL Footage from the Kennedy assassination plays as the narrator links his assassination to Kupcinet’s murder. Actor Mark Goddard and his wife Marcia Ross, friends of Kupcinet, explain how they came across the scene of Kupcinet’s death.

4:23Copy video clip URL The narrator returns to inform about the circumstances of Kupcinet’s death with supplementary commentary from Irv Kupcinet, Karyn’s father, and writer Sam Kashner. 

5:28Copy video clip URL The narrator explains what has happened in the time after Kupcinet’s death, and Kari Kupcinet’s work in reviving her story. Kari Kupcinet, Karyn’s niece, describes the impact Karyn Kupcinet’s legacy has had on her, having had access to photos, letters, and diaries of Karyn Kupcinet through her family members.

6:59Copy video clip URL Writer James Ellroy explains how the documentation of Karyn’s path in Hollywood may have saved Kari, who has remarkable similarities to Karyn, from the same fate. Segment ends.

7:20Copy video clip URL E! True Hollywood Story title card, followed by an introduction to the next segment, focusing on Karyn’s introduction to Hollywood and the acting world.

7:43Copy video clip URL Commercial break, featuring commercials for an E! segment on Shannon Woolsey, titled Savannah, Total Balance Natural Nutrition Drink, Mitsubishi, Behr Premium Plus Paint at Home Depot, and Burger King.

10:13Copy video clip URL Video transitions back to the main story with promotional material for E!, followed by a title card and re-introduction to Karyn Kupcinet, catching viewers up to where the episode left off.

11:16Copy video clip URL The narrator covers Karyn Kupcinet’s early life growing up in Chicago in the 1940s and 50s as the daughter of Irv Kupcinet, a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, as well as Essee Kupcinet, Karyn’s mother. Essee Kupcinet and Jerry Kupcinet, Karyn’s brother, speak on Karyn Kupcinet’s natural acting talent. The narrator moves on to describe the famous personalities that frequented the Kupcinet household, Jerry Kupcinet and Sam Kashner chiming in. Jerry Kupcinet talks about the family’s trips to Hollywood, and how these trips influenced Karyn Kupcinet’s glamorized view of the film industry.

12:45Copy video clip URL The narrator explains Karyn Kupcinet’s acting break at thirteen when she served as Carol Lynley’s understudy in the play Anniversary Waltz. Lynley paints a picture of Kupcinet’s personality at the time.

13:07Copy video clip URL The episode’s narrator describes Kupcinet’s move to Broadway in the fall of 1959, a low period in her life, as Kupcinet herself later described. “I couldn’t help being aware of the attitudes manifested by producers, directors, etc. They were gracious and friendly to me. They saw me only as Cup’s daughter, never as a nineteen-year-old girl with talent. This lead to self-doubt, insecurities, and humiliation for me,” Kari Kupcinet reads aloud from Karyn’s old writings. 

13:45Copy video clip URL The episode introduces Karyn Kupcinet’s struggles with body image. Marcia Ross describes Karyn Kupcinet’s appearance, likening her to Marilyn Monroe. 

14:13Copy video clip URL In November 1960, Karyn Kupcinet receives an offer for the movie The Ladies Man. An excerpt from a 1961 radio interview with Kupcinet plays, describing Kupcinet’s interest in working in Hollywood.

14:44Copy video clip URL Segment ends. The introduction to the next segment promises a discussion of Karyn’s struggles with body image working in Hollywood. 

15:07Copy video clip URL Commercial break, featuring commercials for E!’s Fallen Angels week, the 2000 Nissan Maxima, KFC, and Planet Rx.

17:45Copy video clip URL Video transitions back to the main story an E! title card and a re-introduction to Karyn Kupcinet, beginning with Kupcinet’s arrival in Hollywood, overseen by family friend Marcia Ross.

18:56Copy video clip URL Karyn Kupcinet appears in The Ladies Man. In a radio interview, Kupcinet expresses her dissatisfaction with her performance.

19:26Copy video clip URL Turning to a date book of Karyn Kupcinet’s, the episode covers Kupcinet’s surgery on her nose, noting both that she was awake during the procedure and how the surgery relates to her struggles with her body image, Kashner and Irv Kupcinet adding their thoughts on Eddie Fisher’s compliment to her, comparing her to his late wife Liz Taylor. Essee Kupcinet talks about Karyn Kupcinet’s hatred of rejection.

20:43Copy video clip URL Karyn Kupcinet’s stardom begins to bloom as she earns roles on Hawaiian Eye and Mrs. G. Goes to College, though she still struggles with her weight and body image, eventually resorting to diet pills. Kari Kupcinet reads aloud Karyn Kupcinet’s diary entries obsessively logging her weight.

22:50Copy video clip URL Segment ends. The introduction to the next segment promises a focus on Karyn’s love life.

23:08Copy video clip URL Commercial break, featuring commercials for E!’s upcoming schedule, including Talk Soup, a segment on Ingrid Bergman, and a segment on Tonya Harding, E!’s Mysteries and Scandals, Las Vegas 24 Hours, Chili’s, Mitsubishi, Healthy Choice, GM Goodwrench Service Plus, and Sara Lee.

26:08Copy video clip URL Video transitions back to the main story with promotional material for E!, followed by a title card and re-introduction to Karyn Kupcinet, catching viewers up to where the episode left off.

26:55Copy video clip URL In 1962, Karyn Kupcinet takes the role of Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker at the Laguna Beach Playhouse while still struggling with self-esteem and disordered eating. Jerry Kupcinet mentions the family’s ignorance of the depth of Karyn’s reliance on both diet pills and sleeping aids. Kari Kupcinet reads aloud one of Karyn Kupcinet’s entries describing the toll pills were having on her, including nausea, hallucinations, and aching limbs.

28:16Copy video clip URL Karyn Kupcinet meets Andrew (“Andy”) Prine on December 4th, 1962. Prine speaks on his initial perception of and attraction to Karyn Kupcinet. Kupcinet becomes devoted to Prine, although Prine is less serious about the relationship, being caught up in his stardom. Prine expresses regret for not fully understanding Kupcinet at the time.

29:54Copy video clip URL Essee Kupcinet shares her lack of knowledge. Prine talks about Karyn Kupcinet’s worries and the harsh nature of the Hollywood business. Marcia Ross and Jerry Kupcinet talk about her obsession with Andrew Prine and her strange behavior around him.

31:13Copy video clip URL Segment The introduction to the next segment foretells Karyn’s continual spiral. 

31:31Copy video clip URL Commercial break, featuring commercials for an E! segment on Shannon Woolsey, titled Savannah, Kahlua, Carnival Millenium Cruises, Honda, Intel Inside, and AlphaGraphics.

34:11Copy video clip URL34:11Copy video clip URL" onclick="fitv_window_prompt('https://mediaburn.org/video/e-true-hollywood-story-karyn-kupcinet/?t=34:11Copy video clip URL');">Copy video clip URL34:11Copy video clip URL" /> Video transitions back to the main story with an E! title card and a re-introduction to Karyn Kupcinet, catching viewers up to where the episode left off.

34:40Copy video clip URL Karyn Kupcinet finds out she is pregnant. Jerry Kupcinet talks about her efforts to go to Tijuana to get an abortion, an event causing long-lasting emotional effects. Earl Holliman discusses Karyn Kupcinet’s desperate search for love.

35:47Copy video clip URL Both Karyn Kupcinet and Andrew Prine receive a series of anonymous death threats. Prine explains his worries about the threats and the measures he took for his and Kupcinet’s safety. Karyn Kupcinet continues to obsess over Prine, her actions becoming more worrying.

36:57Copy video clip URL The video covers the Kennedy assassination with footage from the event. On what would be their last days together, Prine, Kupcinet, and Holliman go to Palm Springs to get some space in the wake of the news. On Wednesday, Karyn Kupcinet, Marcia Ross, and Mark Goddard meet for dinner. Ross describes Kupcinet’s upset nature knowing that Prine was seeing another girl. The video goes over Karyn’s final actions and the Goddards’ discovery of her body.

39:16Copy video clip URL Jerry Kupcinet and Andrew Prine retell their reactions to hearing about Karyn Kupcinet’s death. 

39:57Copy video clip URL Karyn Kupcinet’s death is ruled a homicide by strangulation. The video shifts its focus to the investigation into Karyn’s death, with additional commentary from Jerry Kupcinet and Prine. Prine reveals that the police found it was Karyn who sent the death threat notes. 

41:19Copy video clip URL Irv Kupcinet notes the lack of closure during Karyn Kupcinet’s funeral. Prine is accused of killing Kupcinet at the funeral. Kari reads from Karyn Kupcinet’s writings: “It’s an emotional industry, buying emotions, molding emotions, selling emotions. It’s a woman, a b**** wearing cheap clothes, too much makeup, costume jewelry, and rented furs. It’s a town where actors pour their lifeblood into it and then kill themselves because of it.”

 42:44Copy video clip URL The segment ends with the enduring mystery of Kupcinet’s death. The next segment promises a new theory surrounding her death.

42:55Copy video clip URL Commercial break, featuring commercials for an E! segment on Tonya Harding, Domino’s Pizza, Mitsubishi, Sara Lee, E! Network, and Zeneca Pharmaceuticals.

34:11Copy video clip URL34:11Copy video clip URL" onclick="fitv_window_prompt('https://mediaburn.org/video/e-true-hollywood-story-karyn-kupcinet/?t=34:11Copy video clip URL');">Copy video clip URL34:11Copy video clip URL" /> Video transitions back to the main story with an E! title card and a re-introduction to Karyn Kupcinet’s story, catching viewers up to where the episode left off.

46:03Copy video clip URL Introduction to Kari Kupcinet and her relationship to Karyn’s death. Kari Kupcinet travels to the L.A. Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau. Sgt. John Yarbrough from the Homicide Bureau discusses the decision to work with Kari Kupcinet as well as writer James Ellroy. Ellroy explains his interest in the story of Karyn Kupcinet’s death. Jerry Kupcinet and Ellroy talk about Kari Kupcinet’s involvement. Irv and Essee Kupcinet express frustration about their daughter’s unsolved death. 

47:57Copy video clip URL The video, with commentary from Sgt. Yarbrough, Ellroy, and Bill Stoner, a homicide detective, explains the complications surrounding Karyn Kupcinet’s death, as well as the question of whether her death was accidental or a homicide. Sgt. Yarbrough explains a possible motivation for why Kupcinet may have sent the death threats. 

51:32Copy video clip URL The segment ends, promising the meeting of Kari Kupcinet and Andrew Prine in the next.

51:51Copy video clip URL Commercial break, featuring commercials for an E! segment on Soleil Moon Frye, Outback Steakhouse, 1-800 Contacts, The Story of Us, Walt Disney World, Gateway, and Emporio Armani.

55:01Copy video clip URL Video transitions back to the main story with an E! title card and a re-introduction to Karyn Kupcinet’s story, catching viewers up to where the episode left off.

55:28Copy video clip URL Kari Kupcinet and Jerry Kupcinet speak on the meaning of reviving Karyn Kupcinet’s story. Ellroy wonders about Karyn Kupcinet’s lost potential. Sam Kashner, Kari Kupcinet, Andrew Prine, Marcia Ross, Mark Goddard, Irv Kupcinet, and Essee Kupcinet share final thoughts on the topic.

59:25Copy video clip URL Credits.