Gossip Girl: Why There Will Never Be Another Gossip Queen as Powerful as Hedda Hopper

For those out of touch with the 1950s, Perez Hilton has nothing on the original gossip queen, Hedda Hopper. Like most gossip columnists, Hopper had failed at what she really wanted to do: Be an actress. Born as Elda Furry (no incongruous name ever tends to be real–save for Madonna and Angelina Jolie), Hopper was committed to the cause of gossip until her very last days.

Perhaps because Hopper was subjected to an adolescence in Altoona, Pennsylvania, she decided to flee the scene and try her hand at New York City. Several false attempts at being a chorus girl led to her meeting DeWolf Hopper, a theater actor who took a shine to her and made her his fifth wife. Although this connection was helpful, Hopper appeared in over a hundred movies with little fanfare. Thus, she sought other avenues for self-expression.

Upon receiving an offer to write a gossip column, Hopper readily accepted. She quickly became notorious not just for her juicy so-called insight into Hollywood, but also for her rivalry with Louella Parsons, a beloved movie columnist employed by William Randolph Hearst.

Unanimously hated and feared by Hollywood, Hopper was one of the most merciless gossip mongers, spreading many a rumor about relationships and political leanings (she named names during the Communist hearings of the 1950s). Even though she was a precursor to more invasive things to come, no one will ever be quite as ferocious–not even the slags at TMZ, ’cause you best believe if Hopper had access to video equipment she would have been running an even more cutthroat ship. Moreover, at least she wore tasteful dresses and garish hats while she performed her bitchery. Modern day bloggers look like schlubs by comparison.