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Matinee Idol…Screen Siren.. Child Star…Teen Sensation. All of these archetypes were covered in newspapers and movie magazines extensively back in Hollywood’s Golden Age. Louella Parsons, Hedda Hopper, Walter Winchell, Earl Wilson, Army Archerd, Joyce Haber, Rona Barrett, James Bacon, and Liz Smith were among the writers that brought an inquisitive public the scoops on all their favorite stars. And Motion Picture, Photoplay, Modern Screen, Movie Mirror, and Movie World were just a few of the Hollywood fan magazines detailing every move of the Tinseltown set.
Who was dating who? Who was getting married? Who was–or wasn’t–having a baby? And of course the inevitable who was getting divorced? Sometimes, if a studio wanted to kill a scandalous story about one of their sacred stars, they would offer an exclusive with another luminary in their stable to keep things quiet. And if a certain star needed puffing up, or an up-and-comer a jazzed-up introduction to the masses, the publications usually complied. They needed the studios, and vice versa.
For decades, if a male star was rumored to be gay, he would be set up with young starlets and the “dating couple” would be photographed out on the town. There are tons of stories about Rock Hudson and all his female conquests in the 1950s and ’60s. The same with Richard Chamberlain and Tab Hunter. Producers feared the truth would kill their boys at the box office, and they knew how to protect their investments.
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In the early days Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons ruled the roost in Hollywood. One word from them could literally kill a career. Hopper was especially vindictive. She had no problem trying to destroy someone’s career if she though they were gay or a Communist. Parsons attacked Ingrid Bergman for having a baby out of wedlock with married Italian filmmaker Roberto Rossellini. She also went after Charlie Chaplin for his penchant for younger ladies and his supposed Communist sympathies. There was a downside to their malicious reporting. Joan Bennett once sent Hopper a skunk on Valentine’s Day with a note attached that read “I stink and so do you.” Point taken!
Elizabeth Taylor was a cash cow for movie magazines because of her ever-evolving real-life tragedies. She was a staple in their pages throughout her career. And winsome Debbie Reynolds was caught in the crossfire when husband Eddie Fisher left her for Taylor after he comforted Liz following the death of her third husband, film producer Mike Todd. Debbie and Eddie’s daughter Carrie Fisher, in her brilliant one-woman show Wishful Drinking, called her parents and Liz the Jennifer Aniston/Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie of their day. Taylor’s turbulent marriages to Richard Burton also fueled her being featured constantly. In later years her weight gain and subsequent weight loss made many a cover.
In one of Kirk Douglas’ memoirs he recounted the story of when Hedda Hopper saw former blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo’s name listed on the Taylor/Burton film The Sandpiper at a screening and complained. Liz turned around in her seat and said “Hedda, why don’t you just shut the *f* up,” proving why she was always good copy.
Cutie Connie Stevens was another star whose face graced the covers of these magazines. Her romantic life was always being discussed, and she also married Eddie Fisher, so I guess he was the catalyst for coverage back in those days. For our younger readers, Fisher was a pop singer who hailed from Philadelphia, and whose biggest hit was “O My Papa” in 1954.
Stylish First Lady Jackie Kennedy was featured in and out of the White House, and especially after she married Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis in 1968. Sammy Davis, Jr. got a lot of ink for his 1960 marriage to Swedish blonde May Britt, since interracial marriage was illegal in half the country back then. ’50s and ’60s Hollywood sweethearts Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin received the full tabloid treatment, as the magazines happily covered their romance, marriage, and eventual divorce.
Teen stars were also big in the publishing world, peaking in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Magazines like 16, Flip, Teen Life, Teen Screen, and Tiger Beat happily promoted the younger guys and gals. Elvis, Paul Anka, Bobby Rydell, Frankie Avalon, Fabian, The Beatles, The Monkees were all predominantly displayed on their covers. Later David Cassidy, Donny Osmond, The Jackson 5, Bobby Sherman, Leif Garrett, and the Dark Shadows cast were mainstays for a while.
These magazines played to their young girl base, offering innocent stories about the gorgeous guys of the day, their likes and dislikes, and what they looked for in that “special girl.” And if they happened to feature these young men shirtless, that was even better. But these mags were also very fickle to their bread and butter. If a star’s latest movie flopped or their TV show was canceled, so were they. Suddenly they weren’t featured as prominently on the pages. And there was always a new crop of handsome hotties to take their place. David Cassidy was replaced by half-brother Shaun, The Osmond Brothers were eclipsed by younger siblings Donny and Marie. Ahh, the circle of life.
Longtime 16 editor Gloria Stavers attempted to make the magazine a little hip. She spotlighted The Doors and later Alice Cooper, but by the mid-’70s it was back to “safe” staples like The DeFranco Family and The Bay City Rollers. In the ‘80s and ‘90s Rick Springfield, KISS, Duran Duran, Culture Club, Corey Haim, River Phoenix, and Johnny Depp made the covers as 16 tried to keep up with the times.
Rona Barrett started as a writer for Photoplay magazine, a TV entertainment reporter, and then launched her own magazines, Rona Barrett’s Hollywood and Rona Barrett’s Gossip. Both had lots of juicy stories about current stars and promoted new movies, TV shows, and stars of yesteryear. Her magazines featured Cher and Barbra Streisand frequently. She also has an Eddie Fisher connection, having started out as the president of his fan club (Eddie really is a catalyst). Barrett grew tired of the sexism in broadcasting and left the entertainment industry in 1991.
Not to be ignored and growing more popular, daytime TV wanted into the magazine market. Soap operas were being discovered in the summertime by younger fans and on college campuses between classes. All My Children was introduced in 1970 and, with its more contemporary feel of what was happening in the world (women’s rights and especially the Vietnam War), the show took off. Before that, Dark Shadows, with its supernatural elements, clicked with the younger set and soon was gracing the pages of all the teen magazines. Thus, the magazines Afternoon TV, Daytime TV, and later in 1975 Soap Opera Digest were born. They were filled with real-life stories of the stars of daytime usually overcoming some adversity. When General Hospital introduced the “Luke and Laura” storyline, Genie Francis’ and Tony Geary’s kissers were on many magazines covers, especially when their characters were married in 1981.
In today’s world most magazines have discontinued their print versions and opted to go all digital. Vanity Fair, People, and Us Weekly are still on newsstands covering today’s latest stars. Entertainment Weekly ceased printing years ago (such a shame) but has an internet presence. Premiere Magazine is defunct. Rolling Stone has hung on. Page Six of the New York Post and TMZ are the main gossip sources now. To quote from an obscure 1987 Lee Remick TV movie, Nutcracker: Money, Madness & Murder, “Sad commentary on our times.” Indeed.