Hedda Hopper

Hedda Hopper
Hopper in 1930
Born
Elda Furry

(1885-06-02)June 2, 1885
DiedFebruary 1, 1966(1966-02-01) (aged 80)
Resting placeRose Hill Cemetery in Altoona, Pennsylvania
Occupation(s)Actress, gossip columnist
Years active1908–1966
Known forWriting "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood"
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
(m. 1913; div. 1922)
ChildrenWilliam Hopper

Elda Furry (June 2, 1885 – February 1, 1966), known professionally as Hedda Hopper, was an American gossip columnist and actress. At the height of her influence in the 1940s, over 35 million people read her columns.

A strong supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) hearings, Hopper named suspected communists and was a major proponent of the Hollywood blacklist. Hopper continued to write her gossip column until her death in 1966.

Her work appeared in many magazines and later on radio. She had an extended feud with Louella Parsons, an arch-rival and fellow gossip columnist.

Early life

[edit]

Hopper was born Elda Furry in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Margaret (née Miller; 1856–1941) and David Furry, a butcher, both members of the German Baptist Brethren. Her family was of Pennsylvania Dutch (German) descent.[1] The family moved to Altoona when Elda was three.

Career

[edit]

Acting

[edit]
Hopper in 1929
Hopper and Carole Lombard in The Racketeer (1929)

She eventually ran away to New York City and began her career in the chorus on the Broadway stage. Hopper was not successful in this venture. Florenz Ziegfeld called the aspiring starlet a "clumsy cow" and brushed off her pleas for a slot in his lavish Follies. After a few years, she joined the theater company of matinee idol DeWolf Hopper, whom she called "Wolfie" and would later marry. [citation needed]

She remained in the chorus and they toured the country. While in the Hopper company, she realized that chorus and understudy jobs were not acting. She wanted to act, and she knew she would have to prove herself before she could hope to get anywhere in the theater. Hearing that Edgar Selwyn was casting his play The Country Boy for a road tour, she went to his office and talked him into letting her audition for the lead. She was given the role and that show toured for thirty-five weeks through forty-eight states. She studied singing during the summer and, in the fall, toured with The Quaker Girl in the second lead, the prima donna role. The show closed in Albany.

In 1913, she became the fifth wife of DeWolf Hopper, whose previous wives were named Ella, Ida, Edna and Nella. The similarity in names caused some friction, as he would sometimes call Elda by the name of one of his former wives. Consequently, Elda Hopper paid a numerologist $10 to tell her what name she should use, and the answer was "Hedda".[2] She began acting in silent movies in 1915. Her motion picture debut was in The Battle of Hearts (1916) with William Farnum, but she made a major splash in Virtuous Wives (1918), in which she established her pattern of playing society women.[3] Hopper decided to upstage the film's headline starlet, Anita Stewart, by spending all of her $5,000 salary on a lavish wardrobe from the upscale boutique Lucile, which she wore in the film. By 1920, she was commanding $1,000 per week as a free agent in New York; in 1923 she moved to Hollywood and became a contract player for Louis B. Mayer Pictures.[3] She appeared in more than 120 movies over her 23 year acting career.

Writing

[edit]
Hopper in the early 1920s

As Hopper's movie career waned in the mid-1930s, she looked for other sources of income. In 1935, she agreed to write a weekly Hollywood gossip column for The Washington Herald at $50 a week (equivalent to $1,111 in 2023), which was cancelled after four months when she refused to take a $15 pay cut.[3]

In 1937, Hopper was offered another gossip column opportunity, this time with the Los Angeles Times. Her column, entitled "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood", debuted on February 14, 1938.[4] Hopper could not type, nor spell very well, so she dictated her column to a typist over the phone. Hopper used her extensive contacts forged during her acting days to gather material for her column.[5] Her first major scoop had national implications: in 1939, Hopper printed that President Franklin Roosevelt's son James Roosevelt was divorcing his wife Betsey after being caught in an affair with a nurse at the Mayo Clinic.[3]

Part of Hopper's public image was her fondness for wearing extravagant hats, for which the Internal Revenue Service allowed her a $5,000 annual tax deduction as a work expense.[6] During the Second World War, the Nazis used photographs of Hopper in her extravagant hats for propaganda, as a symbol of "American decadence".[7] Her annual income was $250,000,[when?] enabling her to live a luxurious lifestyle and maintain a mansion in Beverly Hills, which she described as "the house that fear built".[3]

After Hopper printed a story about an extramarital affair between Joseph Cotten and Deanna Durbin, Cotten ran into Hopper at a social event and pulled out her chair, only to continue pulling it out from under her when she sat down and then kick her in the rear.[8][9] The next day, he received dozens of flower bouquet deliveries and congratulatory telegrams from others in the industry, thanking him for having the courage to do what everyone else dreamed of doing.[3] Cotten later threatened Hopper that he would kick her again if she kept slandering him.[9]

Hopper spread rumors that Michael Wilding and Stewart Granger had a sexual relationship. Her 1962 book The Whole Truth and Nothing But, which she promoted on the CBS television series What’s My Line?, included a chapter in which Hopper asserted their relationship was a fact. Wilding sued Hopper for libel and won.[10]

Hopper was an advocate for actress Joan Crawford, whose career suffered in the early 1940s after she was labelled "Box-Office Poison" and forced to resign from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In 1945, Hopper reprinted a press release for Mildred Pierce in her column, which described Crawford as a leading contender for the Best Actress Oscar. Such was Hopper's influence that she was credited with swinging the decision in Crawford's favor when she won the award. Hopper's support has been described as the first instance of lobbying the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to favor a certain nominee.[3]

Hopper lobbied for African American actor James Baskett to receive an Academy Award for his performance in the 1946 film Song of the South. Baskett would ultimately receive an honorary award for his performance.[11]

Actress ZaSu Pitts compared Hopper to "a ferret".[12]

Joan Bennett sent Hopper a "$35 valentine. The $35 went for a skunk which carried a note: 'Won't you be my valentine? Nobody else will. I stink and so do you.'" Hopper reportedly commented that the skunk was beautifully behaved. She called it Joan, and passed it on to actor James Mason and his wife as a present, as they had made the first bid after the story about the unusual gift made the news.[13]

During World War II, Hopper's only child, actor William "Bill" Hopper, served in the Navy in Underwater Demolitions. She chastised Douglas Fairbanks Jr., the son of her old friend Douglas Fairbanks, because she thought the younger Fairbanks was shirking his duty to his country.[clarification needed] Fairbanks Jr. recalled in his memoirs Salad Days that he was already in uniform serving in the United States Navy, and despised Hopper for her insinuations.[14]

Actor Kirk Douglas recounted an interaction between Hopper and Elizabeth Taylor. At the premiere of Taylor and her husband Richard Burton's film The Sandpiper (1965), Hopper began to complain when she saw screenwriter Dalton Trumbo's screen credit (she had led the charge in blacklisting Trumbo for his Communist party membership). This caused Taylor to turn around and say "Hedda, why don't you just shut the fuck up?"[15]

In 1963, Hopper complained in her column that three out of five Best Actor Oscar nominees were British and only two were American: "The weather's so foul on that tight little isle that, to get in out of the rain, they all gather in theatres and practise Hamlet on each other."[16]

Feud with Louella Parsons

[edit]

When Hopper initially came to Hollywood, she and Louella Parsons had had a mutually beneficial arrangement. At the time, Hopper was a moderately successful actress, and according to Parson's successor, Dorothy Manners, "if anything happened on a set—if a star and leading man were having an affair—Hedda would give Louella a call.” In return, Hedda was guaranteed a few lines of copy under Louella's increasingly influential byline.[17]

After MGM canceled her contract,[when?] Hopper struggled to maintain her career as an actress. She was offered[when?] a position as a Hollywood columnist by the Esquire Feature Syndicate due to a recommendation by Andy Hervey of MGM’s publicity department.

One of the first papers to pick up “Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood” was the Los Angeles Times, a morning paper like Louella's Examiner. Hopper first publicly scooped Parsons with the divorce[when?] of the president's son Jimmy Roosevelt (a Goldwyn employee), who was involved with a Mayo Clinic nurse, from his wife, Betsey. The story became front-page news across the country.[5]

Citizen Kane

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When rumors began to surface that Orson Welles’ debut film Citizen Kane was inspired by the life of William Randolph Hearst, Parsons lunched with the director, and believed his evasions and denials.[5] Hopper arrived uninvited to an early screening of the film and wrote a scathing critique, calling it a "vicious and irresponsible attack on a great man".[18]: 205  As a result, Hearst sent Parsons a letter complaining that he had learned about Citizen Kane from Hopper, and not her.[citation needed]

Ingrid Bergman

[edit]

In the early 1950s, the Los Angeles Examiner ran on its front page above Parsons's byline: "Ingrid Bergman Baby Due in Three Months at Rome". Bergman left her husband, neurologist Peter Lindstrom, to live in Italy with director Roberto Rossellini, but the news that she might be pregnant was met with some skepticism. Bergman was well known for the angelic role of Sister Benedict in The Bells of St. Mary's.[5]

Hopper, who had been a public supporter of Bergman, believed the actress's denial of the pregnancy, and printed a fervent repudiation of the rumor.[6] However, Bergman was indeed pregnant and Hopper, enraged at being scooped, launched a PR campaign decrying Bergman for being pregnant out of wedlock, and carrying a married man's child.[19] Parsons had allegedly received the tip from Howard Hughes,[5] who was incensed at Bergman for being unable to shoot a film for him as promised.

Reaction

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Reportedly, whereas Hopper was more inclined to see their much-publicized antagonism as funny and good for business, Parsons took it personally and saw Hopper as a rival in every possible way. Hopper also referred to Doc Martin as "that goddamn clap doctor", which infuriated Parsons.[5]

Louis B. Mayer assisted Hopper in establishing herself as a columnist, and her role was supported by other studio chiefs, which saw it as a step in offsetting Louella's monopolistic power. Gossip columnist Liz Smith stated that: "The studios created both of them. And they thought they could control both of them. But they became Frankenstein monsters escaped from the labs."[5] Hopper and Parsons had a combined readership of 75 million in a country of 160 million.[5][20]

Politics

[edit]

Hopper was a fervent Republican. During the 1944 presidential election, she spoke before a massive rally organized by David O. Selznick in the Los Angeles Coliseum in support of the Dewey-Bricker ticket, as well as Governor Earl Warren of California, who later became Dewey's running mate in 1948, and later the Chief Justice of the United States. The gathering drew 93,000, with Cecil B. DeMille as the master of ceremonies, and Walt Disney as one of the speakers. Others in attendance included Ronald Reagan, Barbara Stanwyck, Ann Sothern, Ginger Rogers, Randolph Scott, Adolphe Menjou, Dick Powell, Gary Cooper, Edward Arnold, and William Bendix. Despite the good turnout at the rally, most Hollywood celebrities who took a public position sided with the Roosevelt-Truman ticket.[21]

Hopper strongly supported the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) hearings, and was a guest and speaker of the Women's Division at the 1956 Republican National Convention held in San Francisco to renominate the EisenhowerNixon ticket.[22]

She was so well known for her conservatism that rumor had it she planned to stand up, unfurl an American flag, and walk out of the 23rd Academy Awards ceremony in March 1951 if Jose Ferrer, who was known to be a socialist, should win Best Actor. The rumor was untrue, but Hopper joked that she wished she had thought of it. Screenwriter Jay Bernstein related that when he told Hopper that many people in Hollywood privately called her a Nazi because of her extreme conservatism, the gossip columnist began to cry and replied: "Jay, all I've ever tried to be is a good American."[7]

Blacklisting

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Hopper was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Hollywood blacklist, using her 35 million strong readership to destroy the careers of those in the entertainment industry whom she suspected of being a Communist, having Communist sympathies, being homosexual, or leading dissolute lives.[6][23] She was a leading member of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, founded in 1944 and devoted to rooting out suspected Communists in Hollywood.[24][25] She considered herself to be a guardian of moral standards in Hollywood and bragged that she need only wag her finger at a producer and he would break off an adulterous affair instantly.[3]

One of Hopper's victims was screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who was blacklisted throughout the late 1940s and 1950s partially through Hopper's consistently negative coverage of his Communist Party membership. When actor Kirk Douglas hired Trumbo to write the screenplay for Spartacus (1960), Hopper denounced the film in her column, stating that "[the script is based on] a book written by a Commie and the screen script was written by a Commie, so don't go see it."[26][27] The film was a critical and financial success.

Charlie Chaplin was another target of Hedda Hopper's vitriol because of his alleged Communist sympathies and his relationships with much younger women, which she considered immoral despite her own marriage to a man 27 years her senior.[28] She also objected to him for remaining a British citizen and not becoming an American, which she considered an act of ingratitude towards a country which had given him so much. When in 1943, he denied that he was the father of 22-year old actress Joan Barry’s child, Hopper assisted Barry in filing a paternity suit against Chaplin, launching a campaign of attrition against him through her column, and calling for him to be deported for his "moral turpitude".[29] She defended her behavior by stating that she wished to make an example of Chaplin as "a warning to others involved in dubious relationships."[3] Her grudge deepened when, later in the year, Chaplin married 18-year old Oona O'Neill and gave the scoop to Louella Parsons out of dislike for Hopper.[3] For years after the paternity trial, Hopper cooperated with the FBI to destabilize Chaplin's career. This involved her printing damaging information leaked by the FBI concerning Chaplin's past Communist affiliations, while Hopper in turn provided the agency with unsavory gossip about Chaplin's personal life gleaned from her informants.[29] Her sustained criticism of Chaplin was one of the factors which contributed to his being denied re-entry to the United States in 1952.[6][28]

Actress Ingrid Bergman was also blacklisted as a result of Hedda Hopper's sustained negative coverage in her columns. Hopper had supported Bergman in her column throughout the 1940s, advocating for her to land starring roles in The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) and Joan of Arc (1948).[3] She was enraged when Bergman lied to her about being pregnant with married director Roberto Rossellini's baby.[6] Hopper had believed Bergman's denial of the pregnancy, printing a fervent repudiation of the rumor in 1949. However, Bergman was indeed pregnant, and the news was leaked to Hopper's arch-rival Louella Parsons, who gained the scoop.[6] Seeking revenge, Hopper launched a PR campaign decrying Bergman for being pregnant out of wedlock and carrying a married man's child.[19]

Radio and television

[edit]
Hopper (middle) with Lizabeth Scott and Mark Stevens in 1946

Hopper had an acting role in a radio soap opera, playing Portia Brent on the Blue Network's Brenthouse beginning in February 1939.[30] She debuted as host of her own radio program, The Hedda Hopper Show, on November 6, 1939. Sponsored by Sunkist, she was heard on CBS three times a week for 15 minutes until October 30, 1942. From October 2, 1944, to September 3, 1945, Armour Treet sponsored a once-a-week program. On September 10, 1945, she moved to ABC, still sponsored by Armour, for a weekly program that continued until June 3, 1946. Hopper moved back to CBS beginning on October 5, 1946 with a weekly 15-minute program, This Is Hollywood, sponsored by Procter & Gamble. It ran until June 28, 1947.

Expanding to 30 minutes on NBC, she was host of a variety series, The Hedda Hopper Show, broadcast from October 14, 1950, to November 11, 1950 on Saturdays, then from November 19, 1950, to May 20, 1951 on Sundays. This program featured music, talk and dramatized excerpts from movies with well-known guests, such as Broderick Crawford reprising a scene from All the King's Men (1949).

On January 10, 1960, a television special, Hedda Hopper's Hollywood, aired on NBC. Hosted by Hopper, guest interviews included an eclectic mix of past, current and future stars: Lucille Ball, Francis X. Bushman, Liza Minnelli, John Cassavetes, Robert Cummings, Marion Davies, Walt Disney, Janet Gaynor, Bob Hope, Hope Lange, Anthony Perkins, Debbie Reynolds, James Stewart, and Gloria Swanson. [citation needed]

Hopper had several acting roles during the latter part of her career, including brief cameo appearances as herself in the movie Sunset Boulevard (1950) and The Patsy (1964), as well as episodes of I Love Lucy, The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford, and The Beverly Hillbillies, starring Buddy Ebsen. Her autobiography, From Under My Hat (Doubleday, 1952) was followed by The Whole Truth and Nothing But (1962), also published by Doubleday. She remained active as a writer until her death, producing six daily columns and a Sunday column for the Chicago Tribune syndicate, as well as writing articles for celebrity magazines such as Photoplay.

Personal life

[edit]

On May 8, 1913, Hopper married actor and singer DeWolf Hopper in New Jersey. They had one child, William, who later played Paul Drake in the Perry Mason series.[31] The couple divorced in 1922.[32]

Death

[edit]

Hopper died on February 1, 1966, of double pneumonia at the age of 80 in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.[33][34] The probate value of Hopper's estate was $472,661 gross and $306,679 net.[35] She is buried at Rose Hill Cemetery, Altoona, Pennsylvania.[36]

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Hopper has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6313½ Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.[37]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1916 The Battle of Hearts Maida Rhodes Lost film
Credited as Elda Furry
1917 Her Excellency, the Governor Sylvia Marlowe Lost film
Credited as Elda Milar
1917 The Food Gamblers June Justice Lost film
1917 Seven Keys to Baldpate Myra Thornhill Credited as Elda Furry
1917 Nearly Married Hattie King Abridged version extant
1918 The Beloved Traitor Myrna Bliss
1918 By Right of Purchase Society Woman Incomplete film
Uncredited
1918 Virtuous Wives Irma Delabarre Lost film
Credited as Mrs. DeWolf Hopper
1919 The Third Degree Mrs. Howard Jeffries, Sr Lost film
1919 Sadie Love Mrs. James Wakeley Lost film
1919 The Isle of Conquest Mrs. Harmon Lost film
1920 The Man Who Lost Himself Countess of Rochester Lost film
1920 The New York Idea Vida Phillimore
1921 Heedless Moths His Wife Lost film
1921 The Inner Chamber Mrs. Candor Lost film
Credited as Mrs. DeWolf Hopper
1921 Conceit Mrs. Agnes Crombie Credited as Mrs. DeWolf Hopper
1922 Sherlock Holmes Madge Larrabee
1922 What's Wrong with the Women? Mrs. Neer Lost film
Credited as Mrs. DeWolf Hopper
1922 Women Men Marry Eleanor Carter
1923 Has the World Gone Mad! Mrs. Adams Lost film
1923 Reno Mrs. Kate Norton Tappan
1924 Gambling Wives Madame Zoe Lost film
1924 Why Men Leave Home Nina Neilson
1924 Happiness Mrs. Chrystal Pole
1924 Miami Mary Tate Lost film
1924 Another Scandal Cousin Elizabeth MacKenzie Lost film
1924 Sinners in Silk Mrs. Stevens Lost film
1924 The Snob Mrs. Leiter Lost film
1925 Her Market Value Mrs. Bernice Hamilton
1925 Declassée Lady Wildering
1925 Dangerous Innocence Muriel Church Lost film
1925 Zander the Great Mrs. Caldwell
1925 Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman Mrs. Clarice Vidal
1925 The Teaser Margaret Wyndham Lost film
1925 Borrowed Finery Mrs. Bordon
1926 Dance Madness Valentina Lost film
1926 The Caveman Mrs. Van Dream
1926 Pleasures of the Rich Mona Vincent Lost film
1926 Skinner's Dress Suit Mrs. Colby
1926 Lew Tyler's Wives Virginia Philips Lost film
1926 The Silver Treasure Mrs. Gould Lost film
1926 Don Juan Marchesia Rinaldo
1926 Fools of Fashion Countess de Fragni
1926 Obey The Law Society Woman
1927 Orchids and Ermine The Modiste
1927 Venus of Venice Jean's Mother
1927 Children of Divorce Katherine Flanders
1927 Matinee Ladies Mrs. Aldrich Lost film
1927 Wings Mrs. Powell Uncredited
1927 Black Tears Lost film
1927 The Cruel Truth Grace Sturdevant
1927 Adam and Evil Eleanor Leighton Lost film
1927 One Woman to Another Olive Gresham Lost film
1927 The Drop Kick Mrs. Hamill
1927 A Reno Divorce Hedda Frane Lost film
1927 French Dressing Lost film
Uncredited
1928 Love and Learn Mrs. Ann Blair Lost film
1928 The Whip Woman Countess Ferenzi Lost film
1928 The Port of Missing Girls Mrs. C. King
1928 The Chorus Kid Mrs. Garrett Lost film
1928 Harold Teen Mrs. Hazzit
1928 Green Grass Widows Mrs. Worthing
1928 Undressed Mrs. Stanley Lost film
1928 Runaway Girls Mrs. Hartley Lost film
1928 Companionate Marriage Mrs. Moore Lost film
1929 Girls Gone Wild Mrs. Holworthy Lost film
1929 The Last of Mrs. Cheyney Lady Maria
1929 His Glorious Night Mrs. Collingswood Stratton
1929 Half Marriage Mrs. Page
1929 The Racketeer Mrs. Karen Lee
1929 A Song of Kentucky Mrs. Coleman Lost film
1930 Such Men Are Dangerous Muriel Wyndham
1930 High Society Blues Mrs. Divine
1930 Murder Will Out Aunt Pat Lost film
1930 Holiday Susan Potter
1930 Let Us Be Gay Madge Livingston
1930 Our Blushing Brides Mrs. Weaver
1930 War Nurse Matron
1931 The Easiest Way Mrs. Clara Williams Uncredited
1931 The Prodigal Christine
1931 Men Call It Love Callie
1931 A Tailor Made Man Mrs. Stanlaw
1931 Shipmates Auntie
1931 The Common Law Mrs. Clare Collis
1931 The Mystery Train Mrs. Marian Radcliffe
1931 Rebound Liz Crawford
1931 Flying High Mrs. Smith
1931 West of Broadway Mrs. Edith Trent
1931 Good Sport Mrs. Atherton
1932 The Man Who Played God Mrs. Alice Chittendon
1932 Night World Mrs. Rand
1932 As You Desire Me Ines Montari
1932 Skyscraper Souls Ella Dwight
1932 Downstairs Countess De Marnac
1932 Speak Easily Mrs. Peets
1932 The Unwritten Law Jean Evans
1933 Men Must Fight Mrs. Chase
1933 The Barbarian Mrs. Loway, American Tourist
1933 Pilgrimage Mrs. Worth (Gary Worth's mother)
1933 Beauty for Sale Madame Sonia Barton
1934 Bombay Mail Lady Daniels
1934 Let's Be Ritzy Mrs. Burton
1934 Little Man, What Now? Nurse
1934 No Ransom Mrs. John Winfield
1935 One Frightened Night Laura Proctor
1935 Society Fever Mrs. Vandergriff
1935 Lady Tubbs Mrs. Ronald Ash-Orcutt
1935 Alice Adams Mrs. Palmer
1935 I Live My Life Alvin's Mother
1935 Three Kids and a Queen Mrs. Cummings
1935 Ship Cafe Tutor
1936 The Dark Hour Mrs. Tallman
1936 Doughnuts and Society Mrs. Murray Hill
1936 Dracula's Daughter Lady Esme Hammond
1936 Bunker Bean Mrs. Dorothy Kent
1937 You Can't Buy Luck Mrs. Agnes White
1937 Dangerous Holiday Lottie Courtney
1937 Topper Mrs. Grace Stuyvesant
1937 Artists and Models Mrs. Townsend
1937 Vogues of 1938 Mrs. Van Klettering Uncredited
1937 Nothing Sacred Dowager on Ship Uncredited
1938 Tarzan's Revenge Penny Reed
1938 Maid's Night Out Mrs. Harrison
1938 Dangerous to Know Mrs. Emily Carson
1938 Thanks for the Memory Polly Griscom
1939 Midnight Stephanie
1939 The Women Dolly Dupuyster
1939 What a Life Mrs. Aldrich
1939 That's Right – You're Wrong Herself – Newspaper Columnist Uncredited
1939 Laugh It Off Elizabeth "Lizzie" Rockingham
1940 Queen of the Mob Mrs. Emily Sturgis
1940 Cross-Country Romance Mrs. North
1941 Life with Henry Mrs. Aldrich
1941 I Wanted Wings Mrs. Young Uncredited
1942 Reap the Wild Wind Aunt Henrietta Beresford
1950 Sunset Boulevard Herself
1960 Pepe Herself, Cameo appearance
1961 The Right Approach Newspaper Columnist Uncredited
1964 The Patsy Herself
1966 The Oscar Herself
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1951–1963 What's My Line? Herself – Mystery Guest 7 episodes
1953 Goodyear Television Playhouse Hostess Episode: "A. Fadeout"
1955 I Love Lucy Herself Episode: "The Hedda Hopper Story"
1955 The Colgate Comedy Hour Herself – Gossip Columnist 2 episodes
1956 The Bob Hope Show Herself 2 episodes
1956 The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show Herself Episode #1.19
1957 Playhouse 90 Various roles 2 episodes
1957 The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour Herself Episode: "Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana"
1958 The Garry Moore Show Herself Episode #1.5
1959 Small World Herself Episode #2.8
1959 Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse Herself Episode: "The Desilu Revue"
1960 Hedda Hopper's Hollywood Host Television special
1960 The Steve Allen Show Herself Episode: "The Movie Premiere of 'Can-Can'"
1961 Here's Hollywood Herself October 31, 1961 episode
1964 The Beverly Hillbillies Herself Episode: "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood"
1966 The New Alice in Wonderland Hedda, the Mad Hatter Voice, TV movie, (final film role & posthumous release)
[edit]

Portrayals

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The Pennsylvania Dutchman". 1953.
  2. ^ LIFE – Google Boeken. Time. 1944-11-20. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Amy Fine Collins (1997-04-01). "The Powerful Rivalry of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2018-03-25.
  4. ^ "Hedda Hopper Timeline". Archived from the original on July 5, 2008.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Collins, Amy Fine (April 1997). "The Powerful Rivalry of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons". vanityfair.com. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Karen Krizanovich (2015-11-05). "Hedda Hopper: the woman who scared Hollywood". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  7. ^ a b Richard Lemon (May 13, 1985). "The Warrior Queens of Gossip". People Magazine. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  8. ^ Silvester, Christopher (2002). The Grove Book of Hollywood. Grove Press. p. 352. ISBN 978-0-8021-3878-1.
  9. ^ a b "Old Hollywood's Most Scandalous Secrets, as Told by David Niven". Vanity Fair. 2020-05-18. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
  10. ^ Stephens, Autumn (1998). Drama Queens: Wild Women of the Silver Screen. Conari. p. 202. ISBN 978-1-57324-136-6.
  11. ^ Frost, Frost (Winter 2008). "Hedda Hopper, Hollywood Gossip, and the Politics of Racial Representation in Film, 1946-1948". The Journal of African American History. 93 (1): 36–63. doi:10.1086/JAAHv93n1p36. JSTOR 20064255. S2CID 142114722. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  12. ^ Kanfer, Stefan (2011). Tough Without A Gun: The Life and Extraordinary Afterlife of Humphrey Bogart. Borzoi Books (Random House). p. 86. ISBN 978-0-307-27100-6.
  13. ^ Eells, George (1972). Hedda and Louella. G.P. Putnam's Sons. pp. 260–262.
  14. ^ Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (1988). The Salad Days [ISBN missing]
  15. ^ Liz Smith (2012-07-24). "Kirk Douglas' Juicy And Informative New Memoir On How An Epic – And An End To Blacklisting – Came To Be". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  16. ^ Sellers, Robert (2011). Don't Let the Bastards Grind You Down: How One Generation of British Actors Changed the World. Random House. p. 403. ISBN 9781409049913.
  17. ^ Collins, Amy Fine. "The Powerful Rivalry of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons". Vanity Fair.
  18. ^ Leaming, Barbara (2001). Orson Welles, A Biography. New York: Viking Press. ISBN 978-0-618-15446-3.
  19. ^ a b "Who Was Hedda Hopper?". Town & Country. March 3, 2017.
  20. ^ "Hedda Hopper: the woman who scared Hollywood". telegraph.co.uk. 2016. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
  21. ^ David M. Jordan, FDR, Dewey, and the Election of 1944 (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2011), pp. 231–232
  22. ^ Frost, Jennifer (2011). Hedda Hopper's Hollywood: Celebrity Gossip and American Conservatism. NYU Press. pp. 139–140. ISBN 978-0-814-72824-6.
  23. ^ Andrew O'Hehir (2015-11-04). ""Trumbo" and the long, dark shadow of the blacklist: How a Hollywood gossip columnist launched the culture wars". Salon Magazine. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  24. ^ Larry Ceplair, Steve Englund (1983). The Inquisition in Hollywood: Politics in the Film Community, 1930-1960. University of California Press. p. 211.
  25. ^ Manchel, Frank (1990). Film Study: An Analytical Bibliography. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. p. 1081. ISBN 978-0-8386-3412-7. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
  26. ^ Stephen Farber (2001-04-23). "Spartacus". Criterion.com. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  27. ^ Mark Frankel. "Spartacus (1960)". TCM.com. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  28. ^ a b Frost, Jennifer (2007). "'Good Riddance to Bad Company': Hedda Hopper, Hollywood Gossip, and the Campaign Against Charlie Chaplin, 1940-1952". Australasian Journal of American Studies. 26 (2): 74–88. JSTOR 41054077.
  29. ^ a b John Sbardellati & Tony Shaw (2003). "Booting a Tramp: Charlie Chaplin, the FBI, and the Construction of the Subversive Image in Red Scare America" (PDF). Pacific Historical Review, University of California Press. pp. 507–508. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  30. ^ Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (Revised ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
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  33. ^ "Hedda Hopper, Columnist, Dies; Chronicled Gossip of Hollywood; Confidante of Leading Stars Noted for Flamboyant Hats and Caustic Comments". Associated Press in The New York Times. February 2, 1966. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
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  37. ^ "Hollywood Star Walk". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  38. ^ Smith, Jennifer (February 22, 2016). "Rebooted New York City Opera Plans Three Premieres". Wall Street Journal – via www.wsj.com.
  39. ^ Cooper, Michael (February 22, 2016). "New York City Opera Unveils Rest of Season". The New York Times.

Further reading

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  • "Evolution of a Vamp, The," Photoplay, February 1921, p. 26. Photo-illustrated Hedda Hopper profile.
  • Frost, Jennifer. "Hedda Hopper, Hollywood Gossip, and the Politics of Racial Representation in Film, 1946–1948," Journal of African American History, 93 (Winter 2008), 36–63.
  • Rogers, John E. "An Amazing Lady," Photoplay, October 1932, p. 49. "When Garbo met Hedda." "Amazing Lady" refers to Hopper.
  • Brennen, Bonnie (2005). "Malice in Wonderland: Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons in Hollywood" (PDF). The Image of Journalist in Popular Culture.
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