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
Hedda Hopper Her autobiography, "From Under My Hat" (Doubleday, 1952) was followed by "The Whole Truth and Nothing But" (1962), also published by Doubleday. She remained active as a writer until her death, producing six daily columns and a Sunday column for the "Chicago Tribune" syndicate, as well as writing articles for celebrity magazines such as "Photoplay". On May 8, 1913, Hopper married actor and singer DeWolf Hopper in New Jersey. They had one child, William, who later played Paul Drake in the "Perry Mason" series. They were divorced in 1922. Hopper died on February 1, 1966, of double pneumonia at the