Press & Media

Official Bio

J. Randy Taraborrelli is the author of 20 books, 15 of which have made the New York Times bestseller list, including his latest, Jackie, Janet & Lee – The Secret History of Janet Auchincloss and her daughters, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis and Princess Lee Radziwill (2018).  His other best sellers include Call Her Miss Ross;Elizabeth Taylor;Michael Jackson – The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story (also nominated for a W.H. Smith award in England); and After Camelot – A Personal History of the Kennedy Family, 1968 to the Present.  

Taraborrelli’s The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe appeared on the New York Times list both in 2009 and then again in 2012 when it became the number two e-books bestseller.

Taraborrelli’s Madonna – An Intimate Biography was a massive bestseller in many countries around the world — translated into more than 30 languages. It remained on the London Times’ bestseller list for six months and was also nominated for the prestigious W.H. Smith Award in England. The book was a New York Times bestseller, as well.

The author has also written critically-praised biographies about Frank Sinatra, Carol Burnett and Cher, as well as a pictorial history of Motown Records.

J. Randy Taraborrelli’s After Camelot was developed as a successful 2016 miniseries for ReelzChannel, starring Katie Holmes as Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Matthew Perry as Ted Kennedy.  Taraborrelli’s The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe was the source material for a miniseries which aired on Lifetime in 2014 and starred Susan Sarandon, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kelli Garner.  Additionally, Taraborrelli is the author of Jackie Ethel Joan – Women of Camelot – a New York Times bestseller in both hard cover and paperback – which was adapted as a highly-rated miniseries for NBC-TV starring Jill Hennesey as Jackie Kennedy and Lauren Holly as Ethel Kennedy.

Not only is J. Randy Taraborrelli a respected journalist, he is a recognizable entertainment personality and in-demand guest on many television programs, including Today, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Entertainment Tonight and CNN – Headline News. Additionally, he is a news analyst for CBS News; his six-months-plus coverage of the Michael Jackson molestation trial in Santa Maria for that network was widely praised. (He was the only CBS News TV reporter in the court room for the verdict). Taraborrelli co-anchored coverage of Jackson’s funeral with Katie Couric for CBS.

In his free time, J. Randy Taraborrelli trains in the martial arts. He holds a black belt in American Tang Soo Do and a blue belt in Gracie Jiu Jitsu.