Hedda and Louella - A dual biography of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons

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A dual biography of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons by George Eells. Hedda and Louella! Two women so famous that even today they need no last names to be recognized immediately by millions of people from Paris to Pasadena. Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons! The acknowledged queens of the Hollywood gossip columnists, who in their heyday claimed a combined readership of 75,000,000 and whose power, real or imagined, was so great that they could strike terror into the hearts of the biggest stars and richest moguls of the movie industry. The butcher's daughter from Altoona, Pennsylvania, and the clothier's daughter from Freeport, Illinois, who climbed and clawed their way to the top of the heap, demanding and ultimately obtaining a respect and attention that turned reality upside down and helped make Hollywood a legend in its own time. Now, in this amazing dual biography, George Eells separates the truths from the myths about these two incredible women and in so doing reveals a world that makes the most fanciful Hollywood opus seem mundane. Louella Parsons, the reporter with a nose for news but whose concern for fact was almost as outrageous as the syntax of her prose. Louella Parsons, who reputedly held her job because she knew where all the skeletons were buried (a story that should be forever laid to rest with the publication of this book). LoueIIa Parsons, whose three husbands (one of whom has never been publicly acknowledged before) and strange role in the celebrated liaison between William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies made her private life as stormy and intriguing as any figment of her romantic imagination. Hedda Hopper, who ran away from home, married a Broadway star older than her father, and eventually became the self-appointed guardian of Hollywood's moral life. Hedda Hopper, who during her own acting career knew every trick in the book for upstaging star and then sank into obscurity before rising once again to strike back at those who once had shunned her. Hedda Hopper, to some one of the great patriots of Hollywood and to others the leading witch of the Hollywood witch-hunters. Only in a place as unreal, so built on sand as Hollywood could these two women have flourished. HEDDA AND LOUELLA is their story, as crammed with anecdote, as filled with gossip as any column either ever wrote. Remarkable women both, they lived to become as famous as Garbo and Gable, 'Chaplin and WeIIes, Mayer and Zanuck, the very people they helped celebrate. Their like will never be seen again.' Born in Winslow, Illinois (population 399) ,GEORGE EELLS became fascinated with show business at an early age: Filled with the memories of the circuses, carnivals, and repertoire companies that passed through his hometown, he attended Northwestern before coming to New York. After being entertainment editor for Parade and Look, he was the editor of Signature. He now lives in Manhattan but spends a good deal of his time in Los Angeles. Slight bumping to top and bottom of spine. All orders shipped protected in a box. N° de ref. del artículo 000902

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