Katherine Vissering "Kitty" Puening was born in Recklinghausen, Westphalia, Prussia, Germany, on August 8, … See more

At a New Year's Eve party later that year, Puening met Joseph Dallet Jr. After the 1927 executions of Sacco and Vanzetti, he joined the Communist Party of America in 1929. He had been involved in the International Unemploy… See more

Soon after, Harrison left for Pasadena, California, for his residency at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), while Kitty remained in Philadelphia to complete her bachelor's degree in botany at the University … See more

Their child, a son they named Peter, was born in Pasadena, on May 12, 1941, during Oppenheimer's regular session at Caltech. When they returned to Berkeley, Oppenheimer bought a new house at One Eagle Hill … See more

By the end of the war in August 1945, Oppenheimer had become a celebrity, and Kitty had become an alcoholic. Kitty was said to get drunk to the point of falling down and passing out. However, Serber claimed that this wa… See more

Portrayals of Kitty in popular culture include:
• Jana Shelden in the miniseries Oppenheimer (1980).
• Bonnie Bedelia in the film Fat Man and Little Boy (1989).
• Neve Campbell in the series Manhattan (2015). … See more