Hedda Hopper

Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper in 1929
Born	Elda Furry May 2, 1885 Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	February 1, 1966 (aged 80) Hollywood, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Double pneumonia
Resting place	Rose Hill Cemetery in Altoona, Pennsylvania
Nationality	American
Occupation	Actress, gossip columnist
Years active	1908–1966
Known for	Writing "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood"
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	DeWolf Hopper (m. 1913–22)
Children	William Hopper (1915–1970)

Hedda Hopper (May 2, 1885 – February 1, 1966) was an American actress and one of America's best-known gossip columnists, notorious for feuding with her arch-rival Louella Parsons. She had been a moderately successful actress of stage and screen for years before being offered the chance to write the column Hedda Hopper's Hollywood for the Los Angeles Times in 1938. In the McCarthy era she named suspected Communists. Hopper continued to write gossip to the end, her work appearing in many magazines and later on radio.

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 siblings included Dora, Sherman, Cameron, Edgar, Frank and Margaret.^[1] Her family was of Pennsylvania Dutch (German) descent.^[2][3] The family moved to Altoona when Elda was three.

Career

Acting

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, even getting the axe by the renowned Shubert Brothers. 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, 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".^[4] She began acting in silent movies in 1915. Her motion picture debut was in The Battle of Hearts (1916) with William Farnum. She appeared in more than 120 movies over the following twenty-three years, usually portraying society women.

Writing

As her movie career waned in the mid-1930s, Hopper looked for other sources of income. In 1937, she was offered the chance of a lifetime and embarked on a career doing something she was quite adept at: gossip. Her gossip column called "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood" debuted in the Los Angeles Times on February 14 (St. Valentine's Day), 1938.^[5] After years of struggling as an actress, she had finally found her niche. She christened the home she purchased in Beverly Hills "The House That Fear Built". She maintained a notorious if self-serving rivalry with the longer-established and better-liked Louella Parsons, who had formerly been friendly, sometimes even passing Hopper information. Hopper and Parsons became arch rivals competing fiercely, and often nastily, for the title "Queen of Hollywood", although those who knew both agreed that Hopper, a former actress, was far more vicious and unforgiving in her dealings with those who displeased her than rivals Parsons and Sheilah Graham were ever known to be.

• Hopper was noted for her hats, considered her trademark, due to her taste for large, flamboyant ones; and her hats were so famous that, in the film Breakfast in Hollywood, Del Porter, backed by Spike Jones and his City Slickers, sang a novelty song, "A Hat for Hedda Hopper", while Hopper was sitting in the audience wearing an extraordinarily large milliner's creation.
• Fictional columnist J.J. Hunsecker, played by Burt Lancaster in the film Sweet Smell of Success, is said to have been inspired at least in part by Hopper, who courted controversy as well for "naming names" of suspected or alleged Communists during the Hollywood Blacklist.
• Her frequent attacks against Charlie Chaplin in the 1940s for various reasons, including his politics and love life purportedly contributed to his being denied a permission to re-enter the United States after a sojourn to Europe in 1952.
• After she published a "blind item" on Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy's relationship, Tracy confronted her at Ciro's and kicked her in the rear.
• Similarly, after she had 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.^[6]
• Hopper spread rumors that Michael Wilding and Stewart Granger had a sexual relationship; Wilding later sued Hopper for libel and won.^[7]
• Actress ZaSu Pitts compared Hopper to "a ferret".^[8]
• 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 christened 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.^[9]
• During World War II, her only child, actor William "Bill" Hopper, served in the Navy in Underwater Demolitions. She chastised Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., the son of her old friend the late 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 British Royal Navy, and despised Hopper for her insinuations.^[10]

Politics

Hopper was a fervent Republican. In 1944, for instance, she spoke before the 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 would become 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.^[11]

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 Eisenhower-Nixon ticket.^[12]

Radio and television

Hopper had an acting role in a radio soap opera, playing Portia Brent on the Blue Network's Brenthouse beginning in February 1939.^[13] 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 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 doing a scene from All the King's Men.

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 The Martha Raye Show, 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, she married actor and singer DeWolf Hopper in New Jersey. They had one child, William, who later played Paul Drake in the Perry Mason series.^[14] They were divorced in 1922.^[15]

Death

Hopper died on February 1, 1966, of double pneumonia at the age of 80 in Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Hollywood.^[16][17] She is buried at Rose Hill Cemetery, Altoona, Pennsylvania.^[18]

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Hopper has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6313½ Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.^[19]

Selected filmography

Film

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	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	Mrs. Clarice Vidal
1925	The Teaser	Margaret Wyndham	Lost film
1925	Borrowed Finery	Mrs. Bordon	Lost film
1926	Dance Madness		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	The Silver Treasure	Mrs. Gould	Lost film
1926	Lew Tyler's Wives	Virginia Philips	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	Matinee Ladies	Mrs. Aldrich	Lost film
1927	Children of Divorce	Katherine Flanders
1927	Black Tears		Lost film
1927	Wings	Mrs. Powell	Uncredited
1927	The Cruel Truth	Grace Sturdevant
1927	Adam and Evil	Eleanor Leighton
1927	One Woman to Another	Olive Gresham
1927	The Drop Kick	Mrs. Hamill
1927	A Reno Divorce	Hedda Frane	Lost film
1927	French Dressing
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
1928	Harold Teen
1928	Green Grass Widows	Mrs. Worthing	London
1928	Undressed	Mrs. Stanley
1928	Runaway Girls	Mrs. Hartley
1928	Companionate Marriage	Mrs. Moore
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
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	A Tailor Made Man	Mrs. Stanlaw
1931	The Mystery Train	Mrs. Marian Radcliffe
1931	Flying High	Mrs. Smith
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
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	Little Man, What Now?	Nurse	Uncredited
1935	One Frightened Night	Laura Proctor
1935	Alice Adams	Mrs. Palmer
1935	I Live My Life	Alvin's Mother
1935	Ship Cafe	Tutor
1936	The Dark Hour	Mrs. Tallman
1936	Dracula's Daughter	Lady Esme Hammond
1936	Bunker Bean	Mrs. Dorothy Kent
1937	You Can't Buy Luck	Mrs. Agnes White
1937	Topper	Mrs. 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	Hedda Hopper - 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
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)	Television film

Cultural references

Portrayals

In 1985, Jane Alexander received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination portraying Hopper in the television film Malice in Wonderland, opposite Elizabeth Taylor as Louella Parsons.

In 1995, Cynthia Adler portrayed Hedda Hopper in the documentary Carmen Miranda: Bananas is My Business.

In addition, she was also portrayed by Katherine Helmond in Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story (1995 TV film), by Joanne Linville in James Dean (2001 TV film), by Jenn Colella in Chaplin: The Musical on Broadway in 2012, and by Helen Mirren, in the 2015 film Trumbo, directed by Jay Roach.

In 1999, Rue McClanahan played Priscilla Tremaine, a very thinly veiled version of Hopper, in AMC's The Lot, a comedic limited series about the Golden Age of Hollywood.

The New York City Opera announced that it will stage the East Coast premiere of Stewart Wallace's “Hopper’s Wife” — a 1997 chamber opera about an imagined marriage between painter Edward Hopper and Hedda Hopper -- at Harlem Stage from April 28 through May 1, 2016.^[20][21][22]

See also

• Jimmie Fidler

References

1. Rootsweb genealogy site; accessed July 14, 2011
2. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=504
4. LIFE - Google Boeken. Books.google.com. 1944-11-20. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
5. Hedda Hopper Timeline Archived July 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
6. Silvester, Christopher (2002). The Grove Book of Hollywood. Grove Press. p. 352. ISBN 0-8021-3878-0.
7. Stephens, Autumn (1998). Drama Queens: Wild Women of the Silver Screen. Conari. p. 202. ISBN 1-57324-136-9.
8. 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.
9. Eells, George (1972). Hedda and Louella. G.P. Putnam's Sons. pp. 260–262.
10. Salad Days by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. c. 1980
11. David M. Jordan, FDR, Dewey, and the Election of 1944 (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2011), pp. 231-232
12. Frost, Jennifer (2011). Hedda Hopper's Hollywood: Celebrity Gossip and American Conservatism. NYU Press. pp. 139–140. ISBN 0-814-72824-3.
13. Dunning, John. (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. P. 118.
14. Donnelley, Paul (2005). Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries. Omnibus. p. 497. ISBN 1-84449-430-6.
15. Houseman, Victoria (1991). Made in Heaven: The Marriages and Children of Hollywood Stars. Bonus Books. p. 150. ISBN 0-929387-24-4.
16. "Hedda Hopper, Columnist, Dies; Chronicled Gossip of Hollywood; Confidante of Leading Stars Noted for Flamboyant Hats and Caustic Comments". Associated Press in New York Times. February 2, 1966. Retrieved 2009-02-03. Hedda Hopper, the Hollywood gossip columnist, died in Cedars of Lebanon Hospital today of double pneumonia with heart complications. She was 75 (sic) years old.
17. Donnelley, Paul (2005). Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries. Omnibus. p. 498. ISBN 1-84449-430-6.
18. O'Toole, Christine (2012). Pennsylvania Off the Beaten Path®, 11th: A Guide to Unique Places. Globe Pequot. p. 158. ISBN 0-762-78615-9.
19. "Hollywood Star Walk". latimes.com. Retrieved March 2, 2013.

Further reading

• 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.

External links

• Hedda Hopper at the Internet Broadway Database
• Hedda Hopper at the Internet Movie Database
• Hedda Hopper at AllMovie
• Hedda Hopper and others on Orson Welles' 1944 radio show
• Hedda Hopper: Broadway Photographs (University of South Carolina)
• 1923 passport photo(courtesy flickr.com)
• Grave photo
• Hedda Hopper papers at the Margaret Herrick Library