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Marita Lorenz, Who Told Tales of Castro and Kennedy, Dies at 80 Marita Lorenz, Who Told Tales of Castro and Kennedy, Dies at 80
(3 days later)
Marita Lorenz, who became pregnant after an affair with Fidel Castro, but who balked at poisoning the Cuban dictator in an American-linked plot by counter-revolutionaries, died on Aug. 31 in Oberhausen, Germany. She was 80. Marita Lorenz, who became pregnant from an affair with Fidel Castro but who balked at poisoning him in an American-linked plot by Cuban counter-revolutionaries, died on Aug. 31 in Oberhausen, Germany. She was 80.
The cause was cardiac failure, her daughter, Monica Mercedes Pérez Jiménez, said.The cause was cardiac failure, her daughter, Monica Mercedes Pérez Jiménez, said.
The daughter of an American actress with whom she was interned as a child in a concentration camp and a father who commanded a U-boat fleet, Ms. Lorenz led a swashbuckling life so implausible that separating the morsels of reality from what may have been unprovable or illusory was, at times, virtually impossible. Ms. Lorenz — the daughter of an American actress with whom she was interned as a child in a concentration camp and a father who commanded a U-boat fleet — led a colorful life so implausible that separating the morsels of reality from what may be illusory, or at any rate unprovable, is all but impossible.
Her romance with Castro and another with Marcos Pérez Jiménez, the Venezuelan generalissimo who fathered their daughter, both appear to have been confirmed. But whether she and Castro produced a son named Andre, who grew up to be a pediatrician in Cuba, is arguable. Her romance with Castro and another with the Venezuelan generalissimo Marcos Pérez Jiménez, who fathered her daughter, both appear to have been confirmed. But whether she and Castro produced a son named Andre, who grew up to be a pediatrician in Cuba, is arguable.
So was her detailed account of driving in November 1963 with Frank Sturgis, later convicted as one of the Watergate burglars, and Lee Harvey Oswald to Dallas, where they met with Jack Ruby and E. Howard Hunt — who was later also a Watergate burglar and one of President Richard M. Nixon’s so-called plumbers — on the eve of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. (Oswald killed Kennedy on Nov. 22; two days later, Ruby murdered Oswald.) So was her detailed account of her actions on the eve of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963. In her telling, she, Frank Sturgis (who was later convicted as one of the Watergate burglars) and Lee Harvey Oswald drove that night to Dallas, where they met with Jack Ruby and E. Howard Hunt (who also later became a Watergate burglar and one of President Richard M. Nixon’s so-called plumbers). Oswald killed Kennedy on Nov. 22; two days later, Ruby murdered Oswald.
Her account of the prelude to the assassination was reported in The Daily News of New York in 1977 and repeated in testimony before the House Select Committee on Assassinations, which concluded that it was unreliable. Her account was reported in The Daily News of New York in 1977 and repeated in testimony around that time before the House Select Committee on Assassinations, which concluded that it was unreliable.
Still, her saga was enough for Vanity Fair to describe her in 1993 as “a patron saint of conspiracy buffs.” It was also enough to flesh out a number of books, including “Marita: One Woman’s Extraordinary Tale of Love and Espionage From Castro to Kennedy” (1993), written with Ted Schwartz, which Kirkus Reviews described as “the wild — if nearly incredible — adventures of a new Jane Bond.” Her testimony to the House committee was the basis for Mark Lane’s book “Plausible Denial” (1992). Still, her saga was enough for Vanity Fair to describe her in 1993 as “a patron saint of conspiracy buffs.” It was also enough to flesh out a number of books, including “Marita: One Woman’s Extraordinary Tale of Love and Espionage From Castro to Kennedy” (1993), written with Ted Schwartz. Kirkus Reviews described it as “the wild — if nearly incredible — adventures of a new Jane Bond.” Her testimony to the House committee was the basis of Mark Lane’s book “Plausible Denial” (1992).
Her escapades — including her involvement in a plot to kill Castro in 1960 by placing poison pills in his food, which she said she foiled by informing him of the plot — also inspired the made-for-television film “My Little Assassin” (1999), which starred Gabrielle Anwar as Ms. Lorenz and Joe Mantegna as Castro.Her escapades — including her involvement in a plot to kill Castro in 1960 by placing poison pills in his food, which she said she foiled by informing him of the plot — also inspired the made-for-television film “My Little Assassin” (1999), which starred Gabrielle Anwar as Ms. Lorenz and Joe Mantegna as Castro.
After interviewing her in 1982, an F.B.I. agent, Larry Wack, concluded that she “may be providing information of some significance,” but that she had “a penchant for exaggeration.” After interviewing her in 1982, an F.B.I. agent, Larry Wack, concluded that Ms. Lorenz “may be providing information of some significance,” but that she had “a penchant for exaggeration.”
Ilona Marita Lorenz was born in Bremen, Germany, on Aug. 18, 1939, two weeks before the outbreak of World War II. Her mother, Alice Lofland, an actress who performed under the name June Paget, was on her way to film a movie in France in the early 1930s when she met and married Heinrich Friedrich Lorenz, a ship captain. After rescuing two Allied soldiers during the war, she was recruited into the French underground. She served until she was captured and sent, along with 5-year-old Marita, to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Ilona Marita Lorenz was born in Bremen, Germany, on Aug. 18, 1939, two weeks before the outbreak of World War II. Her mother, Alice Lofland, an actress who performed under the name June Paget, was on her way to film a movie in France in the early 1930s when she met and married Heinrich Friedrich Lorenz, a ship captain. After rescuing two Allied soldiers during the war, she was recruited into the French underground. She served until she was captured and sent, along with 5-year-old Marita, to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany.
After the war the family moved to Manhattan, where Marita’s mother worked for American intelligence and her father became captain of the liner Berlin. Ms. Lorenz, who quit school after the ninth grade, was 19 years old and accompanying her father in 1959 when the ship docked in Havana and Castro invited himself onboard. After the war the family moved to Manhattan, where Marita’s mother worked for American intelligence and her father became captain of the liner Berlin. Ms. Lorenz, who had quit school after the ninth grade, was 19 years old and accompanying her father in 1959 when the ship docked in Havana. Castro invited himself onboard.
She claimed that she had a child with Castro, but that the almost full-term fetus was taken from her in Cuba while she was drugged, and raised there. There is conflicting evidence as to whether he exists. Mr. Lorenz claimed that she had become pregnant during her affair with Castro, but that the fetus, at almost full term, was removed from her in Cuba while she was drugged. The child was raised there, according to Ms. Lorenz.
“I know people have questioned my mother, but if you do the research you’ll find it’s shockingly true,” her daughter said. “She changed history. Fidel Castro didn’t die when she was sent to kill him. The only thing I can’t confirm is that she had a son with Fidel. I know that he exists, but I’ve never met him.”“I know people have questioned my mother, but if you do the research you’ll find it’s shockingly true,” her daughter said. “She changed history. Fidel Castro didn’t die when she was sent to kill him. The only thing I can’t confirm is that she had a son with Fidel. I know that he exists, but I’ve never met him.”
In addition to her daughter, Ms. Lorenz’s survivors include a son, Mark E. Edwards; a brother, Joseph; a sister, Valerie Lorenz; and a grandson.In addition to her daughter, Ms. Lorenz’s survivors include a son, Mark E. Edwards; a brother, Joseph; a sister, Valerie Lorenz; and a grandson.
Ms. Lorenz, who was married several times, said in her book and the Vanity Fair article that from the early 1960s to the late ’80s she spied on United Nations diplomats who lived in her Upper East Side apartment building; lived on welfare in Jackson Heights, Queens; escaped to a small farmhouse in Darien, Conn., which was raked with gunfire; and finally marched into the Cuban mission in New York in 1981 and demanded a visa. She said she visited Castro and met her son. Ms. Lorenz, who was married several times, said in her book and in the Vanity Fair article that from the early 1960s to the late ’80s she spied on United Nations diplomats living in her Upper East Side apartment building in Manhattan; that she had lived on welfare in Jackson Heights, Queens; that she had escaped to a small farmhouse in Darien, Conn., which was raked with gunfire; and that she had finally marched into the Cuban mission in New York in 1981 and demanded a visa. She said she visited Castro and met her son.
Monica Pérez Jiménez said her mother had dreamed of a glamorous life, not a cycle of wealth and poverty, of near-death encounters with organized crime figures and anti-Castro Cubans and sex with glamorous dictators.Monica Pérez Jiménez said her mother had dreamed of a glamorous life, not a cycle of wealth and poverty, of near-death encounters with organized crime figures and anti-Castro Cubans and sex with glamorous dictators.
“My mother came from a concentration camp,” she said, “so her desire to be loved was very strong.”“My mother came from a concentration camp,” she said, “so her desire to be loved was very strong.”