Hedda Hopper's gossip column was filled with vicious attacks on the famous stars of the day, and the most frequent target of those attacks was Joan Bennett. Fed up with Hopper's constant criticism, Bennett sent Hopper a skunk on Valentine's Day 1950, attaching a note that read "You stink!" This unusual gift went down in cinema history as an amusing anecdote showing just how far the enmity between two of Hollywood's powerful women could go.
Throughout her film career, Hedda Hopper appeared in many important productions, among them The Stolen Jools (1931), Speak Easily (1932) and Sunset Boulevard (1950). She died on the same day as Buster Keaton, with whom she had worked on these films: 1 February 1966. The fact that two such masters died on the same day is remembered as an example of just how strange Hollywood history's coincidences can be.
Hedda Hopper was the mother of the famous actor William Hopper. William was best known for his role as the detective Paul Drake in the popular 1950s television series Perry Mason. Their mother-son relationship was at times reflected in William's career as well, thanks to Hopper's powerful position in Hollywood.
Hedda Hopper's husband, DeWolf Hopper Sr., was the man who made "Casey at the Bat," an important part of American culture, famous. DeWolf, who performed Ernest Lawrence Thayer's poem on stage more than 10,000 times, played a major role in its popularization. In this way he both made a name for himself and became the unforgettable interpreter of this classic work of American literature.
The comedian Red Skelton painted a caricatured oil portrait of Hedda Hopper and gave it to her as a gift. The work passed into the hands of Hopper's son, William Hopper, and remained in the family until William's death. Today the portrait is estimated to be worth around $22,000, a sign both of Skelton's artistic talent and of Hopper's place in popular culture.
Hedda Hopper's film career began as a silent film actress at Samuel Goldwyn's film company, a period that corresponds to around 1917. The shooting conditions in Fort Lee, New Jersey, were quite harsh: the dressing rooms and offices were housed in an abandoned barn with no ceiling, divided by thin wooden partitions. This difficult start did not prevent Hopper from later becoming one of the most influential figures in Hollywood.
Hedda Hopper grew up in a strict Quaker family in the town of Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. The Quaker faith's principles of plain living and honesty helped shape her character. This background remained one of her distinguishing traits in later years, even in the glamorous world of Hollywood.
In 1964, the actor Michael Wilding sued Hopper for $3 million on the grounds that she implied he was homosexual in her book "The Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth." The case was eventually settled for $100,000. The incident laid bare just how sharp and controversial Hopper's writing could be.
Hedda Hopper changed her birth date from 2 May 1885 to 2 June 1890 in order to conceal her real age. This practice was common, especially among actors, since looking young was important to their careers. Hopper's move can also be seen as a reflection of Hollywood's obsession with youth.
In July 1923, Hedda Hopper filed for divorce from her husband DeWolf Hopper in New York. On 30 January 1924, the court granted an interlocutory divorce and awarded her custody of their son, Billy. This divorce was one of the important steps Hopper took toward building an independent career.
Hedda Hopper's life was portrayed by Helen Mirren in the 2015 film Trumbo. While telling the story of the screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who was blacklisted for being a communist, the film also reveals Hopper's influence in Hollywood during the blacklist era. Mirren's performance successfully captured Hopper's sharp and ruthless personality.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Hedda Hopper's political allies included prominent figures from right-wing circles such as Senator Joseph McCarthy, Howard Hughes, Ronald Reagan, J. Edgar Hoover and William Randolph Hearst. Thanks to her close relationship with FBI director Hoover, she could obtain unlimited information about the entertainment industry. Because of her friendship with Hearst, she worked to have Citizen Kane (1941), the film inspired by his life, withdrawn from release. She also supported McCarthy's hunt for communists and played a role in the creation of blacklists in Hollywood.
At the age of 18, Hedda Hopper ran away from home to New York, where she found work in the chorus of an opera company. This bold step marked the beginning of her stage career and laid the foundation for her later rise to become an important figure in Hollywood. Her time in New York gave her experience in the worlds of theater and music.
Hedda Hopper was portrayed by Judy Davis in FX's original series Feud (2017). While the series deals with the famous rivalry between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, it also reveals Hopper's role in that rivalry. Davis's performance successfully captured just how effective and feared Hopper was as a gossip columnist.
Hedda Hopper went from Pennsylvania to New York with dreams of becoming a theater star, and there she met and married the actor De Wolfe Hopper. In 1920 she moved to Hollywood with her son and began acting in films. In 1936 she launched a show business gossip radio program, and two years later she began writing a film column that was published in hundreds of American newspapers. That column made her one of the most powerful and feared figures in Hollywood.
Hedda Hopper was of Pennsylvania Dutch (German) descent. This origin was part of her cultural identity, and she carried that heritage throughout her life. The Pennsylvania Dutch community is known as the descendants of Germans who emigrated to America, and Hopper's coming from this background may have left traces on her personality and worldview.
After her acting career, Hedda Hopper gained fame as a gossip columnist. This transformation increased her influence in Hollywood and formed the most important phase of her career. Her column had the power to affect actors' careers and also became an important source that took the pulse of the era's film world.
The 1972 book "Hedda and Louella" by George Eells was published by Warner Books as a mass-market paperback, a dual biography of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons. The book examines the lives and rivalry of the two famous gossip columnists in detail. It stands as an important source for understanding Hopper's and Parsons's influence on Hollywood.
The Equitable Building at Hollywood and Vine, where Hedda Hopper's office was located, is shown in the film Hollywood Mouth (2008). Another of Hopper's offices was in the Guaranty Building at Hollywood Blvd. and Ivar, and that building appears in the film Hollywood Mouth 2 (2014). The director of these films, Jordan Mohr, had played Simone Signoret in the stage play "Two Simones: de Beauvoir and Signoret in Hollywood"; in the play, Signoret mentions appearing with Hopper on Edward R. Murrow's Small World (1958) program. The two women were at opposite political poles, and this encounter reflected the political tensions of the era.