Hedda Hopper Hedda Hopper Hedda Hopper (born Elda Furry; May 2, 1885February 1, 1966) was an American actress and gossip columnist, notorious for feuding with her arch-rival Louella Parsons. She had been a moderately successful actress of stage and screen for years before being offered the chance to write the column "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood" for the "Los Angeles Times" in 1938. At the height of her power in the 1940s she commanded a 35 million strong readership. She was well known for her political conservatism, and during the McCarthy era she named suspected communists. Hopper continued to write gossip until the end,
Hedda Hopper actor Sidney Poitier. While interviewing him, she asked if he could sing, because "so many of your people do". When he replied that he could not, she said: You're the first one I've ever met who says he can't sing. I've never known any of your people who couldn't sing. In 1963, Hopper complained in her column that three out of five Best Actor Oscar nominees were British and only two were American: The weather's so foul on that tight little isle that, to get in out of the rain, they all gather in theatres and practise Hamlet on each