Hedda Hopper was the town's genial Scold, Buster Keaton its somber Sphinx; together, they were Hollywood past and present. Keaton's world—the gothic twilight of the silent movie, the pratfall, the Quixote on a treadmill—dimmed when the sound stage dawned. Hopper's world—of glamour, gossip and low jinks among the high-lifes—survived largely because she made it seem exciting even when it was dull. When TV nearly killed the movies, she helped rescue them with exposés and exclusives, chitchat and charm; to 30 million readers, Hedda Hopper was Celluloid City with hats. Last week, when the Scold and the Sphinx died—within hours of each other —the shock came not with the news, but with the realization that the nonstop columnist, at 75, was five years older than the ancient silent-film veteran.
From the beginning, Hedda was blessed with eternal middle age. She began her show-business career in 1913 as Elda Furry, the plumpish daughter of a Quaker meat dealer in Hollidaysburg, Pa. She had little acting ability —but that little carried her to Broad way, where she met and married Headliner DeWolf Hopper, 32 years her senior. The marriage was a failure. In 1922 they were divorced.* It was her last public failure.
No Sleeping Alone. Her career as an actress was brief but profitable. While she was still in the movies she sniffed every breath of scandal, sized up every star and starlet. When she was through in pictures, she was ready to challenge Louella Parsons as Queen of the Glamourmongers. In 1936 she talked her way onto radio, and in 1938 into her own syndicated column. She and Lolly never got along after that.
Unlike Parsons, Hedda had a sharp sense of humor, deliberately collected the showy hats that became a national joke—and the foundation of her fame. But Hopper was known for more than her topper. She continually outreported her rival, spoon-fed the fans endlessly with the trivia that thrills. Through Hedda, the readers learned that Clark Gable had not a tooth in his head, that Joan Crawford's compulsive cleanliness caused her to drop to her hands and knees and scrub the bathroom floor during a visit to SAC headquarters. The fans also got a sizable helping of bloopers. "For more than 2,000 years," Hedda once intoned reverently, "Jews and Christians all over the world have tried to follow in the footsteps of our Saviour."
Occasionally, Hedda came through with some meaty news. She reported as "the truth" a conversation between Producer Harry Cohn and a gangster. Cohn, anxious to break up a blossoming romance between Sammy Davis Jr. and Kim Novak, telephoned Las Vegas. Said Cohn: "You take care of this for me, will you?" "Sure," said the voice on the other end. "I'll just say, 'You've only got one eye; want to try for none?' " On another occasion, Hedda reported that she had chastised Elizabeth Taylor for unseemly conduct after Mike Todd's death, and then published Liz's reply: "What do you expect me to do—sleep alone?"