Louella Parsons

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Parsons was born Louella Rose Oettinger in Freeport, Illinois, the daughter of Helen (née Stine) and Joshua Oettinger. Her father was of German Jewish descent, as was her maternal grandfather, while her maternal grandmother, Jeanette Wilcox, was of Irish origin. She decided to become a writer or a reporter during high school. At her 1901 high school graduation, she gave a foretelling speech, titled "Great Men", after which her principal announced that she would become a great writer. She obtained her first newspaper job as a part-time writer for the Dixon Star. In 1902, she became the first female journalist in Dixon. She and her first husband, John Parsons, moved to Burlington, Iowa, where her only child, Harriet (1906–1983), was born. While in Burlington, Parsons saw her first motion picture, *The Great Train Robbery* (1903). In 1912, she worked for George K. Spoor as a scenario writer at the Essanay Company in Chicago, selling her first script for $25. Her daughter, Harriet, was billed as "Baby Parsons" in several movies, which included *The Magic Wand* (1912), written by Parsons. In 1914, Parsons began writing the first movie gossip column in the United States for the Chicago Record Herald. William Randolph Hearst bought that newspaper in 1918 and Parsons was out of a job. She moved to New York City and started working for the *New York Morning Telegraph* writing a similar movie column, which attracted the attention of Hearst after he saw her interview of his mistress and protégé Marion Davies. Hearst offered her a position in 1923 to become the $200-a-week motion-picture editor of his *New York American*. In 1925, Parsons contracted tuberculosis and was told she had six months to live. She spent a year in Palm Springs, California, then moved to Arizona for the dry climate, then to Los Angeles. With the disease in remission, Hearst suggested she become a syndicated Hollywood columnist. Her *Los Angeles Examiner* column came to appear in over seven hundred newspapers the world over, with a readership of more than 20 million. She considered the biggest scoop of her career to be the divorce of Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Mary Pickford.

Reader's Guide

Louella Parsons was a pioneering figure in entertainment journalism, establishing the first dedicated motion picture gossip column in the United States in 1914. Her influence grew through her association with William Randolph Hearst, who hired her after she championed his mistress Marion Davies. At her peak, her syndicated column reached 20 million readers in 700 newspapers, making her one of the most powerful voices in Hollywood. She saw herself as the social and moral arbiter of the film industry, and many feared her disfavor more than that of movie critics. Her rivalry with Hedda Hopper, who challenged her "Queen of Hollywood" title in 1938, became legendary. Parsons' writing style was often described as "sweetness and light" or "gooey," in contrast to Hopper's crass tone. She used informants in studio corridors, hairdressers' salons, and lawyers' and doctors' offices. Her husband Harry Martin was a urologist and Hollywood physician, and it was thought that he passed on information he learned as a studio doctor. She worked from her Beverly Hills home with a staff consisting of a secretary, her assistant reviewer Dorothy Manners, a "leg" man, and a female reporter. She also appeared in cameo spots in movies, including *Without Reservations* (1946) and *Starlift* (1951).

Did You Know?

• Parsons was the first writer of a dedicated column on motion pictures in the United States, beginning in 1914 for the Chicago Record-Herald.
• In 1925, she contracted tuberculosis and was told she had six months to live, but she recovered and later became a syndicated Hollywood columnist.
• Her daughter Harriet appeared as "Baby Parsons" in several movies, including *The Magic Wand* (1912), which Parsons wrote.
• Parsons considered the biggest scoop of her career to be the divorce of Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Mary Pickford.
• She hosted a radio program titled *Hollywood Hotel* sponsored by Campbell's Soup Company, which was cancelled after the Screen Actors Guild demanded payment for its members.