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 Ford Show the singer/ actress Ann Blyth as his guest. On January 7, 1960, Ford had two big-name guests, Dean Martin and Jack Bailey, host of the "Queen for a Day" daytime series. In the skit Martin drops by as Ford and Bailey poke fun at Martin's Rat Pack friends. Gossip columnist Hedda Hopper was among the many guests on the program. On June 8, 1961, South African golfer Gary Player, then twenty-five, guest starred in a comedy skit in which Player presumes to give Ford golfing lessons. On April 28, 1960, Ford presented one of his only five programs without guest