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 "This Is Hollywood", sponsored by Procter & Gamble. It ran until June 28, 1947. Expanding to 30 minutes on NBC, she was host of a variety series, "The Hedda Hopper Show", broadcast from October 14, 1950, to November 11, 1950 on Saturdays, then from November 19, 1950, to May 20, 1951 on Sundays. This program featured music, talk and dramatized excerpts from movies with well-known guests, such as Broderick Crawford doing a scene from "All the King's Men. On January 10, 1960, a television special, "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood", aired on NBC. Hosted by Hopper, guest interviews included a remarkably eclectic