Was J. Edgar Hoover a Cross Dresser?

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
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I know that the rumors about Hoover cross dressing were just rumors, but Tim Gunn has an interesting Vivian Vance story. This is from an interview he did on Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me:

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In Oliver Stones Tv series The Untold History of the United States he says that after Hoovers death a box of B&W photos were recovered. They were photos of the two men in lingerie reclining together. Not shagging, more the kind of picture lovers take, holding each other. They showed the pictures in the show. Guess you havent watched it…

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For reference, here’s a 2002 thread: J Edgar Hoover: Cross-dresser extraordinaire?
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=118413

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Oliphant cartoon:

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Here’s probably the best debunking. Did J. Edgar Hoover Really Wear Dresses? by Ronald Kessler. I’ve read Kessler’s book about FBI history. It’s very good and very depressing.

The silliest claim is that Hoover made Bert Horgson wear women’s clothes for decades until he died in a secret FBI nursing home. You can find this all over the Internet in articles about Hoover’s cross-dressing. But it actually started as a spoof in a 2002 [Weekly World News](Weekly World News - Google Books Horgson&f=false). I hate the Internet as much as I love it.

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I have a lovely photo somewhere of the Hoove, in a dress, walking with Clyde Tolson. Takes a real FBI nerd to look at it and say, “Who’s that ugly woman with Clyde Tolson?”

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I seem to recall a TV movie which featured J Edgar Hoover reclining on a chaise lounge in a dress. I think it was Blood Feud, starring Robert Blake as Jimmy Hoffa. One capsule review characterized it (or maybe some other film?) as “History as a comic book.” Does anyone remember this?

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Don’t know if I’d take Oliver Stone as a historian.

I found the Tim Gunn’s story interesting because it was something first hand. Not solid evidence. Maybe Mr. Hoover was called away. Maybe they forgot that he was there. Besides, the story wasn’t exactly told under oath.

There was an issue with the Mafia, the various Italian crime families, and their relationship with the FBI. For years, under Hoover’s watch, the FBI denied there was such an organization as the Mafia or that organized crime itself existed. It could be that Hoover was more interested in hunting Communists or using blackmail to build up power than fighting organized crime. It could be that he found the Mafia useful in going after Castro and leftists in general.

However, many people in the Mafia said have come forward and said that Hoover loved to play the horses, and that his friends in organized crime would pay Hoover when he won, and forgive Hoover’s debt when he lost. I don’t know if there was any quid pro quo or just Hoover looking out for his friends who looked out for him.

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I figure that if J Eger had a cup of coffee and a cigarette before getting dressed, he probably wouldn’t have been in such a bad mood.

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Uh… so Hoover looks like Vivian Vance when dressed up?

Or is there something I’m not getting here… ?

(… Reads the link… )

Gotcha.

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Do you recall which episode?