Aline Mosby

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Aline Mosby | birth_name = Aline Mosby | birth_date = {{birth date|1922|07|27}} | death_date = {{nowrap|{{Death date and age|1998|08|07|1922|07|27}}}} | birth_place = Missoula, Montana, U.S. | death_place = Escondido, California, U.S. | alma_mater = University of Montana | occupation = Journalist | years_active = 1962–1984 }} '''Aline Mosby''' (July 7, 1922 – August 7, 1998) was an American journalist.

Mosby mostly wrote for United Press International.<ref name="apobit">{{cite news| url=https://apnews.com/8f9f3672e0d62c26e1ec778ccece3004 |title= Aline Mosby – obituary |work= Associated Press |date= August 15, 1998|accessdate=January 27, 2020}}</ref> She was the first American woman correspondent assigned by a major news service to the Moscow Kremlin and later Beijing.<ref name="lvrjobit">{{cite news |title=Longtime reporter Aline Mosby dies |work=Las Vegas Review-Journal |date= August 16, 1998|page= 45}}</ref> While in the Soviet Union, she met and interviewed Lee Harvey Oswald in 1959, four years before he assassinated U.S. President John F. Kennedy.<ref name="sfcobit">{{cite news |title=Aline Mosby – obituary |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date= August 20, 1998|page=58}}</ref> Mosby was also the first journalist to report on the Marilyn Monroe nude calendar.<ref name="latobit">{{cite news |title=Aline Mosby: Wire Service Reporter, Columnist |work=Los Angeles Times |date= August 21, 1998|page=A32}}</ref>

==Early life== Mosby was born in Missoula, Montana. She earned a journalism degree at the University of Montana.<ref name="apobit" />

==Career== Mosby worked as editor for a college issue of ''Madamoiselle'' before she joined United Press in Seattle in 1943.<ref name="disj">{{cite news |title=Aline Mosby Will Speak |work=Daily Illinois State Journal |date= February 28, 1965|page= 30}}</ref> She moved to the Los Angeles bureau office in the 1950s, working as a radio news writer and feature writer during United Nations meetings in San Francisco. She was also a special Hollywood correspondent for six years.<ref name="sheboygan">{{cite news |title=UPI Correspondent Aline Mosby To Speak at Kohler Wednesday |work=The Sheboygan Press |date= November 24, 1967|page= 10}}</ref><ref name="disj" /> She famously covered a nudist convention in San Bernardino County. She was also one of the first to interview Marilyn Monroe after nude photos she had posed for in 1949 were published as a calendar. Mosby is regarded by news historians as helping Monroe become a more-notable star. She wrote anonymously for gossip magazine ''Confidential''.<ref name="latobit" />

She temporarily resigned from the UP in Los Angeles and moved to Europe, signing with the London UP office shortly afterwards. From there, she was assigned to work Paris and then became the first American woman correspondent assigned to Moscow.<ref name="sfcobit" /> In 1959, she interviewed Lee Harvey Oswald, who had exiled himself there. He spoke to her about his upbringing and support of Marxist socialism. She also interviewed downed U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers. In 1962, she wrote a book titled ''The View from No. 13 People's Street'' detailing her experiences in Moscow.<ref name="sfcobit" /><ref name="disj" /> FBI documents identify her as a suspected Soviet agent.<ref>FBI, Record Number 129-90151-10022, JFK Assassination System Identification Form, 1962</ref> She was based in Washington, D.C. in 1967.<ref name="sheboygan" /> She opened the UPI bureau in Beijing in 1972.<ref name="sfcobit" />

Mosby appeared as herself on May 7, 1962 episode of the CBS game show ''To Tell the Truth''.<ref>{{cite web |title=To Tell the Truth |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8i6WtsCg7s |website=CBS |access-date=14 February 2026}}</ref>

==Retirement== Mosby retired from United Press International in 1984 and continued to freelance for various publications, including ''The New York Times''.<ref name="apobit" />

==Death== Mosby died August 7, 1998, of a cerebral hemorrhage at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, California.<ref name="lvrjobit" /> She was survived by her sister, Mary Jane Bader.<ref name="apobit" />

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name|8828341|Aline Mosby}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosby, Aline}} Category:1922 births Category:1998 deaths Category:20th-century American journalists Category:20th-century American women journalists Category:American reporters and correspondents Category:University of Montana alumni Category:Writers from Missoula, Montana Category:American expatriates in England Category:American expatriates in France Category:American expatriates in the Soviet Union Category:American expatriates in China