Hedda Hopper column, entitled "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood", debuted on February 14 (St. Valentine's Day), 1938. Hopper could not type, or spell very well, so she dictated her column to a typist over the phone. Initially facing stiff competition against Louella Parsons, who had a monopoly on Hollywood gossip, Hopper used her extensive contacts forged during her acting days to gather material for her column. Her first major scoop had national implications: in 1939 Hopper printed that President Franklin Roosevelt's son James Roosevelt was divorcing his wife Betsey after being caught in an affair with a nurse at the Mayo Clinic. Part of
By Right of Purchase with some reported deterioration in the sixth and last reel. By Right of Purchase By Right of Purchase is a 1918 American silent drama film starring Norma Talmadge in a story produced by her husband Joseph Schenck. The film was distributed by Lewis J. Selznick's Select Pictures Company. An up-and-coming actress and soon to be gossip columnist, Hedda Hopper, has a small role in this picture. As described in a film magazine, against the promptings of her heart, Margot Hughes (Talmadge) marries Chadwick Himes (O'Brien) and completely ignores the fact that her husband is very much in love with her.