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Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper Stars of the Photoplay.jpg
Hopper in 1930
Born
Elda Furry

(1885-05-02)May 2, 1885
Died February 1, 1966(1966-02-01) (aged 80)
Resting place Rose Hill Cemetery in Altoona, Pennsylvania
Occupation Actress, gossip columnist
Years active 1908–1966
Known for Writing "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood"
Political party Republican
Spouse(s)
DeWolf Hopper
(m. 1913; div. 1922)
Children William Hopper

Hedda Hopper (born Elda Furry; May 2, 1885 – February 1, 1966) was an American gossip columnist and actress. At the height of her influence in the 1940s, her readership was 35 million. 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 gossip until the end of her life, her work appearing in many magazines and later on radio. She had an extended feud with another gossip columnist, arch-rival Louella Parsons.

Early life

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. The family moved to Altoona when Elda was three.

Career

Acting

Hedda-Hopper-1929
Hopper in 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.

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.

Hedda Hopper and Carole Lombard in The Racketeer
Hopper and Carole Lombard in The Racketeer (1929)

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". 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. 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. She appeared in more than 120 movies over her 23 year acting career.

Writing

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 $1,067 in 2022), which was cancelled after four months when she refused to take a $15 pay cut.

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. 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.

Hedda Hopper in the early 1920s - LCCN2014715583 (cropped)
Hopper in the early 1920s

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

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.

Actress ZaSu Pitts compared Hopper to "a ferret".

Joan Bennett sent Hopper a "$435 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.

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. 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.

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."

Feud with Louella Parsons

When Hopper had initially come to Hollywood, she and Louella Parsons had a mutually beneficial arrangement. Hopper was then a moderately successful actress, and according to Parson's successor, Dorothy Manners, if anything scandalous happened on a set, Hedda would give Louella a call. In return, Hedda was guaranteed a few lines of copy under Louella's increasingly influential byline.

After MGM canceled her contract, Hopper struggled to maintain her career as an actress. She was offered 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 of the president's son Jimmy Roosevelt (a Goldwyn employee) from his wife, Betsey. The story became front-page news across the country.

Citizen Kane

When rumors began to surface that Orson Welles debut film Citizen Kane was inspired by Hearst's life, Parsons lunched with the director, and believed his evasions and denials. 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". As a result, Hearst sent Parsons a letter complaining that he had learned about Citizen Kane from Hopper, and not her.

On the warpath, Parsons then demanded a private screening of the film, and threatened RKO chief George Schaefer on Hearst's behalf, first with a lawsuit, and then with a vague but powerful threat of consequences for everyone in Hollywood. On January 10, Parsons and two lawyers working for Hearst were given a private screening of the film. Horrified by what she saw, Louella rushed out of the studio screening room to cable Hearst, who telegraphed back the terse message "Stop Citizen Kane". Soon after, Parsons called Schaefer and threatened RKO with a lawsuit if they released Kane. She also warned other studio heads that she would expose the private lives of people throughout the industry and reveal long-suppressed scandalous information.

When Schaefer—who had also been threatened by Hearst with legal action—announced that Citizen Kane was scheduled to premiere in February 1941 at Radio City Music Hall, Parsons contacted the manager of Radio City Music Hall and advised him that exhibiting the film would result in a press blackout. The premiere was canceled. Other exhibitors were fearful of being sued by Hearst and refused to show the film. As a result, despite support from Hearst adversaries such as Henry Luce, on release overall the film lost money. Parsons was by no means alone in her campaign against Citizen Kane but Welles never quite recovered his position in Hollywood afterward.

Ingrid Bergman

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 had 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.

Hopper, who had been a public supporter of Bergman, had believed the actress' denial of the pregnancy, and printed a fervent repudiation of the rumor. 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. Parsons had allegedly received the tip from Howard Hughes, who was incensed at Bergman for being unable to shoot a film for him as promised.

Reaction

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.

It has been suggested that Hopper was set up as a columnist by Louis B. Mayer (with the blessing of other studio chiefs) to offset 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." Hopper and Parsons had a combined readership of 75 million in a country of 160 million.

Politics

Hopper was a fervent Republican. During the 1944 presidential election, for instance, 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.

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.

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."

Blacklisting

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. 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. She considered herself to be a guardian of moral standards in Hollywood.

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." The film was a critical and financial success.

The list of Hopper's targets also included Charlie Chaplin and Ingrid Bergman.

Radio and television

Lizabeth Scott, Hedda Hopper, and Mark Stevens, 1946
Hopper (middle) with Lizabeth Scott and Mark Stevens, 1946

Hopper had an acting role in a radio soap opera, playing Portia Brent on the Blue Network's Brenthouse beginning in February 1939. She debuted as host of her own radio program, The Hedda Hopper Show, 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 a remarkably eclectic mix of past, current and future stars: Lucille Ball (a longtime friend of Hopper), Francis X. Bushman, Liza Minnelli, John Cassavetes, Robert Cummings, Marion Davies (her last public appearance), Walt Disney, Janet Gaynor, Bob Hope, Hope Lange, Anthony Perkins, Debbie Reynolds, James Stewart, and Gloria Swanson.

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

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. The couple divorced in 1922.

Death

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

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

Filmography

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 print
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 Extant BFI London
1928 Runaway Girls Mrs. Hartley Lost film
1928 Companionate Marriage Mrs. Moore 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
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)

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Hedda Hopper para niños

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