Rudolph Halley

Rudolph Halley (June 19, 1913–November 19, 1956) was an attorney and politician from New York City.

Born and raised in Queens, Halley graduated from Townsend Harris High School at age 14, and was forced to wait until age 16 to enroll at Columbia University, from which he graduated with a Juris Doctor at age 20. After waiting until his twenty-first birthday to become eligible to pass the bar examination, he went into private practice. During this time, he married and divorced twice. In 1941, he went to work for the U.S. Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, better known as the "Truman Committee" for its chairman, then-Senator Harry S. Truman, which investigated fraud and waste in defense contracting during World War II.

In 1950, Halley was named Chief Counsel to the Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce, better known as the Kefauver Committee, which was charged with investigating the influence of organized crime, particularly its involvement in gambling and political corruption. In his role as Chief Counsel, Halley personally questioned every witness called to testify before the Committee. The Committee's hearings, which were televised nationally, made Halley a celebrity. On May 1, 1951, shortly after the Committee concluded its hearings in New York City, Halley announced his resignation. Over the course of the next several months, he translated his celebrity into work in television, narrating the CBS crime drama Gang Busters and hosting the documentary program Crime Syndicated. He also wrote a short-lived column for Hearst Newspapers.

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