Hedda Hopper

Dec 20, 2023

Hedda Hopper, a famous gossip columnist, could make or break a movie career with her statements. She rose to fame through her work in newspapers, sending statements to print regardless of whether there was any actual proof of what she claimed. The podcast explores her Hollywood journey, her rivalry with Luella Parsons, her impact on Citizen Kane's initial failure, and her role in Charlie Chaplin's legal troubles. Even in her final days, she held a grudge against Chaplin and sought to bar his return to the US.

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Introduction

00:00 • 3min

Gossip Columnist's Rise to Fame

02:37 • 12min

Heddah Elder, Mrs. DeWolf Hopper, and Conflicts with Anita Stewart

14:17 • 5min

Hedda Hopper's Hollywood Journey

19:31 • 8min

Heddah Hopper vs. Citizen Kane

27:20 • 10min

Hedda Hopper's Influence on Charlie Chaplin

37:33 • 5min

Life and Influence of Hedda Hopper, Hollywood Gossip Columnist

42:24 • 6min

Though she started out acting, what really made Hedda Hopper famous was her work in newspapers. For several decades, she could make or break a movie career with her gossip column, sending statements to print regardless of whether there was any actual proof of what she claimed.

Research:

Collins, Amy Fine. “The Powerful Rivalry of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons.” Vanity Fair. April 1997. https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/02/rivalry-hedda-hopper-louella-parsons-gossip-columnists
Eells, George. “Hedda and Louella.” W.H. Allen. Virgin Books. 1972.
Ephron, Nora. “Hedda and Louella.” New York Times. April 23, 1972. https://www.nytimes.com/1972/04/23/archives/hedda-and-louella-by-george-eells-illustrated-360-pp-new-york-g-p-p.html
FROST, JENNIFER. “‘GOOD RIDDANCE TO BAD COMPANY’: HEDDA HOPPER, HOLLYWOOD GOSSIP, AND THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST CHARLIE CHAPLIN, 1940-1952.” Australasian Journal of American Studies, vol. 26, no. 2, 2007, pp. 74–88. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41054077
“Hedda Hopper, Columnist, Dies; Chronicled Gossip of Hollywood.” New York Times. Feb. 2, 1966. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1966/02/02/79310265.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
“Hollywood’s Godmother to Give Views on Past, Present, Future.” The Tampa Tribune. Jan. 10, 1960. https://www.newspapers.com/image/329731973/?terms=hedda%20hopper&match=1
Hopper, Hedda. “Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood.” The Shreveport Journal. October 4, 1938. https://www.newspapers.com/image/600365053/?terms=hedda%20hopper&match=1
Peak, Mamie Ober. “Social Butterfly of Screen a Different Person at Home.” Hartford Courant. Jan 10, 1932. https://www.newspapers.com/image/369469825/?terms=hedda%20hopper&match=1
Sbardellati, John and Tony Shaw. “Booting a Tramp: Charlie Chaplin, the FBI, and the Construction of the Subversive Image in Red Scare America.” The Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 72, No. 4 (Nov., 2003), pp. 495-530. University of California Press. https://web.viu.ca/davies/H323Vietnam/CharlieChaplin.McCarthyism.pdf
“William Randolph Hearst’s Campaign to Suppress Citizen Kane.” American Experience. PBS. April 30, 2021. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/kane-william-randolph-hearst-campaign-suppress-citizen-kane/

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