Louella Parsons |
Louella Parsons (born Louella Rose Oettinger; August 6, 1881 – December 9, 1972) was the first American movie columnist and a screenwriter. She was retained by William Randolph Hearst because she had championed Hearst's mistress Marion Davies[1][2] and subsequently became an influential figure in Hollywood. At her peak, her columns were read by 20 million people in 400 newspapers worldwide. She remained the unchallenged “Queen of Hollywood gossip” until the arrival of the flamboyant Hedda Hopper, with whom she feuded for years. Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2.1 Hearst Corporation 2.2 Syndication 2.3 Radio Program 2.4 "First Lady of Hollywood" 2.5 Writing Style 2.6 Decline 3 Feud with Hedda Hopper 3.1 Citizen Kane 3.2 Ingrid Bergman 3.3 Reaction 4 Memoirs 5 Personal life 6 Later years and death 7 Cultural Legacy 8 Audio recording 9 References 10 Further reading 11 External links Early life Louella Parsons was born Louella Rose Oettinger in Freeport, Illinois, the daughter of Helen (Stine) and Joshua Oettinger. Her father was of German Jewish descent, as was her maternal grandfather, while her maternal grandmother, Jeanette Wilcox, was of Irish origin. During her childhood, her parents attended an Episcopal church.[3] She had two brothers, Edwin and Fred, and a sister, Rae. In 1890, her widowed mother married John H. Edwards. They lived in Dixon, Illinois, hometown of Ronald Reagan. Parsons decided to become a writer or a reporter during high school. At her 1901 high school graduation, she gave a foretelling speech, entitled "Great Men", after which her principal announced that she would become a great writer.[4] After high school, Parsons enrolled in a teacher's course at a local Dixon college. She received a financial contribution from a distant German relative. While still in college, Parsons obtained her first newspaper job as a part-time writer for the Dixon Star. In 1902, she became the first female journalist in Dixon, where she gossiped about Dixon social circles, making a step towards her Hollywood career.
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