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 Third Degree (1919 film) The Third Degree (1919 film) The Third Degree was a 1919 American silent crime drama directed by Tom Terriss produced and distributed by the Vitagraph Company of America. It is based on the 1909 play of the same name by Charles Klein. Filmed several times throughout the silent era, this version starred Alice Joyce with actress/gossip columnist Hedda Hopper in a supporting role and was the next to last silent version of the play, the last being released in 1926 starring Dolores Costello. "The Third Degree" is now considered to be a lost film. As described in a film magazine,