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Revered and reviled U.S. diplomat Henry Kissinger, whose death at 100 on Nov. 29 was met with the widespread view that his realpolitik was responsible for some of this country’s worst global war crimes, loved American celebrity — both his own, an expression of state power, as well as that of others, especially performers. He was “the ultimate starfucker,” noted Daniel Drezner, professor of international politics at the Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, in an appraisal published earlier this year on the occasion of Kissinger’s centennial.

Prior to meeting President Richard Nixon in 1967, Kissinger made frequent trips to Santa Monica to consult with the Rand Corporation, a global policy think tank. But after being appointed as national security adviser by the newly elected president in 1969, his profile skyrocketed — and the glitz of Hollywood was within reach. Fascinated since childhood with American popular culture, Kissinger pursued the...

. With Paul Lynde on the set of Bye Bye Birdie Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 If you came of age during the Sixties, you may well remember the name Lada Edmund, Jr. who was one of the original gyrating, mini-skirted go-go girls who danced in a cage on NBC-tv’s music program, Hullabaloo 1965-66. Similar to ABC’s Shindig, Hullabaloo featured a different celebrity host each week to introduce some of the most popular musical performers of the day. However, the show received most of its press not for the rock groups or vocalists that guest starred but for Lada and fellow dancers who bumped, grinded and twisted their way into the homes of teenagers every week. So popular was she that she landed on the cover of TV Guide magazine.

Before she found TV fame, Lada began her career dancing on Broadway. She was one of...