Long before blogs and gossip channels, Hedda Hopper was a gossip rag icon. A contemporary of Louella Parsons, who’s career began before her, Hopper had a reputation for being hell on high heels. Louis B Meyer referred to her as Hedda Hell and she had no qualms about ruining peoples careers. She also managed to get insider tips and reveal private information about Hollywood actors. Marriages, pregnancies, divorces, and affairs, it was all on the table. While both Parsons and Hopper were feared for their dedication to gossip, Hopper was the one that frightened people the most. Following her start as a columnist, it didn’t take long for her to entertain the public by being the most dangerous women in Hollywood. 

Hedda Hopper was an actress during the industries silent period. Like many actresses of the time, Hopper struggled to adapt to the transition to talkies. Instead of continuing to work as an actress, Hopper moved on to something new. Did she decide to become a gossip columnist because of bitterness and jealousy or did she simply find her calling? We may never know exactly why she chose gossip but we do know she was fueled by feuds. Most importantly she didn’t seem to care how her article’s affected people. 

Hopper had no qualms about going after people and the majority of her targets were people who were part of demographics she wasn’t fond of. Queer people and communists were two of her favorite groups to try to destroy. If you didn’t like her and you showed that distaste, good luck. An early example of Hopper’s jump on the rumor mill was a publication in which she stated that actor Joseph Cotton was having an extramarital affair with actress Deanna Durbin. As a result of Hedda Hopper’s libel, Cotton got back at her after running into her at an event, pulling her aside, and pulling her chair out from under her. People were thrilled that Cotton had the guts to confront her like that. 

Hedda Hopper was not above making unsubstantiated claims. She spread rumors that Stewart Granger and Michael Wilding had slept together. In 1962, she reiterated the rumor in her autobiography, The Whole Truth and Nothing But stating it as fact that they had an affair. Wilding sued Hopper for libel and won. She accused Douglas Fairbanks Jr of dodging his duties despite him being a member of the US Navy. She launched a degrading campaign against Ingrid Bergman for becoming pregnant out of wedlock. While Hopper was a reverent supporter of the actress, Hopper was upset when she realized that Bergman was pregnant following her article disputing Louella Parson’s own article revealing that Bergman was pregnant. 

Hopper did seem to have a soft spot for some. She lobbied for the film Mildred Pierce and Joan Crawford in particularly to win an Oscar. She campaigned for actor James Baskett to receive an Academy Award for his performance in Song of the South. She assisted William Randolph Hearst in attempting to prevent the release of Citizen Kane. 

No one had to try to be on Hedda Hopper’s bad side, a lot of the times you just were. A guest speaker during the women’s devision of HUAC, Hopper was a leading force in the Hollywood Blacklist. Her targets were communists and communist sympathizers, homosexuals, and anyone she believed to live desolate lives. She didn’t need proof either. One of Hopper’s biggest targets during this time was screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. Following his stint in jail and his blacklisting in Hollywood, Trumbo was credited for Spartacus and Exodus. Hopper was not happy about this. When Kirk Douglas hired Trumbo to write the script for Spartacus, Hopper wrote,

a book written by a Commie and the screen script written by a Commie, so don’t go see it.

While I have my own distaste for Charlie Chaplin based on his relationships with teenagers, Hopper had other qualms with him that said more about her. Her criticisms of his relationships are valid but Hopper was upset that Chaplin was still a British Citizen and that he was a communist sympathizer. When Chaplin denied being the father of 22-year-old Joan Barry’s child, Hopper supported the young women. A paternity suit was filed and Barry ended up wining. Chaplin was ordered to pay child support until the child’s 21st birthday. All this despite, Chaplin not being the father of her child. While Hopper’s support of Barry appears sweet, as long as she believed that he really was the father. Its Hopper’s previous actions and other feelings towards Chaplin that lead me to believe that her support of the young women isn’t exactly genuine. 

Hopper was a true Hollywood villain and in the 2015 film Trumbo her villainy made it to the screen. While Hopper had her reasons for going after stars of the silver screen, she also decided to go after people because of “bitchery” as she put it. 

“What inspired all the vicious things you’ve been writing about me?” actress Merle Oberon asked.

“Bitchery, dear. Sheer bitchery,” Hopper said.

Hopper loved a good feud and the publicity they brought her. From her feud with actress Joan Bennet who sent a skunk to her or her feud with fellow gossip columnist, Louella Parsons, Hedda Hopper loved it all. She enjoyed a good party and despite a waning career, Hopper wasn’t going to stick around and cry about it. Following her retirement, Hopper passed away February 1st, 1966 leaving behind a legacy that not many would be proud of. Some may think of Hopper as just another gossip columnist, but she was more than that. Hedda Hopper was the most dangerous women in Hollywood.