Sidney Skolsky Sidney Skolsky Sidney Skolsky (2 May 1905 – 3 May 1983) was an American writer best known as a Hollywood gossip columnist. He ranked with Hedda Hopper (with whom he shared a birthday) and Louella Parsons as the premier Hollywood gossip columnists of the first three decades of the sound picture era. A radio personality in addition to having his own syndicated newspaper column, Skolsky also was a screenwriter and movie producer who occasionally acted in the radio and in the movies. Skolsky claimed to be the person who gave the nickname "Oscar" to the Academy Award and was credited
Hedda Hopper hired Trumbo to write the script for "Spartacus" (1960), Hopper denounced the film in her column, stating that "[the script is based on] a book written by a Commie and the screen script was written by a Commie, so don't go see it." Nonetheless the film was a critical and financial success. Charlie Chaplin was another target of Hedda Hopper's vitriol because of his alleged Communist sympathies and his penchant for much younger women, which she considered immoral. She also loathed him for remaining a British citizen and not becoming an American, which she considered an act of ingratitude towards