Lee Harvey Oswald(1939-1963)
- Actor
- Writer
Alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy, son of Marguerite
Frances Claverie Oswald. He never knew his father, Robert Edward Lee
Oswald, who had died 2 months before his birth of a heart attack.
Oswald had 1 older full brother and another half-brother (from his
mother's first marriage). Young Oswald was placed in a Lutheran
orphanage at the age of 3, but he was removed when his mother left for
Dallas in January 1944 and married her 3rd husband Edwin A. Ekdahl.
Oswald left school in 1954. He was in the US Marines until 1959 when he
was discharged due to hardship as his mother was suffering from
physical problems. Oswald was interested in Marxist ideologies and
lived for some time in the USSR (1959-62). He unsuccessfully tried to
get Soviet citizenship. When he was initially denied and as his visa
was about to expire he even attempted suicide. In 1961 he married a
Russian woman, Marina Nikolaevna Prusakova,
(Marina Oswald) and was allowed to stay
indefinitely. However by October 1963 Oswald moved along with his wife
and daughter back to the States, and settled in Dallas. Oswald began to
publicly express his opinions about Communist regimes like Cuba and
China by distributing pamphlets. He was working for the Texas School
Depository, a 6 story building located in the now 'infamous' Dealey
Plaza area of Dallas, Texas. On November 22, 1963 when President
Kennedy's motorcade passed by the building it is believed that Oswald
was in the building. He may shot the president from the 6th floor and
then concealed the rifle behind some crates. Whether he acted alone or
not is still an ongoing debate. Oswald apparently left the depository
when pandemonium broke out after the incident. He then headed home
where he picked up a pistol. Oswald returned to the Depository where he
is believed to have fired 4 bullets into police officer
J.D. Tippit who approached him to ask him a
question. Oswald then ran into the Texas Theatre where the double bill:
War Is Hell (1961) and
Cry of Battle (1963) was playing.
He had not bought a ticket and the authorities cornered him in the
theatre and quickly took him into custody. On 23 November 1963 he was
charged with the murder of President Kennedy, whom he was alleged to
have shot from the 6th floor of the Texas School Book Depository, as
the President passed by in a motor cavalcade. Oswald however vehemently
denied his involvement in both the Kennedy assassination and the
shooting of officer Tippit. On November 24, 1963 just 2 days later,
while authorities were transferring Oswald to the county jail, he was
shot dead by night club owner
Jack Ruby (1911-67), live before the
cameras. Ruby claimed he was avenging
Jacqueline Kennedy (Jackie
Kennedy Onassis). Claims were made that Oswald had links with the US
secret service and with the Mafia. But it seems that there are more
conspiracy theories than facts.