Nina van Pallandt, a renowned figure in the United States during the early 1970s, rose to fame due to her involvement with Clifford Irving, a notorious hoaxer. Irving's fraudulent biography of Howard Hughes, which claimed to be written in collaboration with Hughes himself, ultimately led to his imprisonment when Hughes emerged from seclusion to publicly reject the work. Van Pallandt played a crucial role in exposing Irving's deceit by revealing that she and Irving were vacationing together in Mexico at the time he claimed to be conducting interviews with Hughes.
In addition to her involvement in Irving's scandal, Van Pallandt also made a memorable appearance in Orson Welles' non-fiction film "F For Fake" (1973),in which she portrayed herself. Prior to her association with Irving and subsequent film career, Van Pallandt was well-known in Europe as a singer of folk songs. She was married to fellow folk singer Baron Frederik van Pallandt, and the couple toured Europe and released many hit records under the stage name "Nina & Frederik".
Van Pallandt's film career reached its peak with her appearances in four Robert Altman movies: The Long Goodbye (1973),A Wedding (1978),Quintet (1979),and O.C. and Stiggs (1985).
