Gossip columnist 1930s through the 1950s, the two best-known - and competing - Hollywood gossip columnists were Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons. Well-timed leaks about a star's purported romantic adventures helped the studios to create and sustain the public's interest in the studios' star actors. As well, the movie studios' publicity agents acted as unnamed "well-informed inside sources" who provided misinformation and rumors to counteract whispers about celebrity secrets — such as homosexuality or an out-of-wedlock child — that could have severely damaged not only the reputation of the movie star in question, but the movie star's box office viability. Having fallen
The Revolt of Mamie Stover (film) office rentals earning $2 million, most assuredly earning more in ticket sales. The June 18th, 1956 issue of Time (magazine) reported the film at #3 as one of "The most popular and successful movies in the U.S. last month, according to the tradesheet Variety" coming in behind, respectively, Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 film) starring James Stewart and Doris Day and The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit starring Gregory Peck and Jennifer Jones. Famed Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper wrote in her May 17th, 1956 column: ""Since the success of 'Mamie Stover,' Buddy Adler has