closeicon
World

CIA files reveal Jordan's King Hussein fathered a child with Jewish Hollywood actress

Their child would grow up to kill Susan Cabot in a violent argument

articlemain

CIA files have revealed that Jordan’s King Hussein fathered a child with the Jewish Hollywood actress Susan Cabot.

According to USA Today, which cited newly declassified CIA files, King Hussein was set up with the actress by the American intelligence agency.

The CIA memo from 1959 revealed that the 24-year-old king “was especially desirous of female companionship during his Los Angeles visit and it was requested that appropriate arrangements be made through a controlled source of the Office in order to assure a satisfied visit.”

The King went on to meet the divorced 32-year-old actress who stared in movies like “Sorority Girl” and “The Wasp Woman.”

Ms Cabot, who was born Harriet Shapiro, spent a lot of time with the King, who was also divorced.

According to the memo the CIA arranged for her to meet him in New York later that month.

It is believed that Ms Cabot was told by her handler: “We want you to go to bed with him.”

“The actress said that she rejected the proposal but finally went to [Hussein’s] party,” the memo stated.

“She became quite taken with the foreign official and found him to be most charming.”

The actress dated the King for seven years and gave birth to their son Timothy in 1961.

He was adopted by her second husband Michael Roman after they married in 1968 and took his surname.

Timothy Roman, who was born a dwarf, eventually grew to 5’4” due to weekly injections of a hormone derived from the pituitary glands of cadavers.

He killed his mother in 1986. She was beaten to death with a weightlifting bar.

Her son was charged with involuntary manslaughter and convicted in 1989.

During the trial he said that she had attacked him and his reaction was due to the drugs he was forced to take.

Chester Leo Smith, a lawyer in the case wrote in court filings that Ms Cabot was found to have received $1,500 a month from the King.

“For better or worse, it looks like child support,” he said.

King Hussein married three more times after his relationship with the actress.

His official biography does not mention Cabot or his illegitimate child.

Share via

Want more from the JC?

To continue reading, we just need a few details...

Want more from
the JC?

To continue reading, we just
need a few details...

Get the best news and views from across the Jewish world Get subscriber-only offers from our partners Subscribe to get access to our e-paper and archive