Louella Parsons

Louella Parsons
Parsons in 1937
Born
Louella Rose Oettinger

(1881-08-06)August 6, 1881
Freeport, Illinois, U.S.
DiedDecember 9, 1972(1972-12-09) (aged 91)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Resting placeHoly Cross Cemetery
Occupations
  • Gossip columnist
  • screenwriter
Years active1902–1965
Spouses
John Dement Parsons
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(m. 1905; div. 1914)​
John McCaffrey Jr.
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(m. 1915; div. 1929)​
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(m. 1930; died 1951)​
ChildrenHarriet Parsons
AwardsHollywood Walk of Fame

Louella Rose Oettinger, (August 6, 1881 – December 9, 1972) known professionally as Louella Parsons, was an American gossip columnist and a screenwriter. At her peak, her columns were read by 20 million people in 700 newspapers worldwide.

She was the first writer of a dedicated column on motion pictures in the United States, writing one in 1914 for the Chicago Record-Herald.[1] She later started a similar column for the New York Morning Telegraph, being lured away by William Randolph Hearst's New York American in 1924 because she had championed Hearst's mistress Marion Davies.[2] She subsequently became an influential figure in Hollywood and remained the unchallenged "Queen of Hollywood gossip" until the arrival of the flamboyant Hedda Hopper, with whom she feuded for years.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference britannica.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Parsons-Hearst was invoked but never defined (see the help page).