Celebrity columnist Elda Furry, of Hollidaysburg and Altoona, is back in the national spotlight in a new movie. Older readers might recognize Elda by her more familiar stage name of Hedda Hopper.
Here is some background.
Elda-Hedda was born in Hollidaysburg in 1885 but moved to Altoona three years later when her parents, David and Margaret (Miller) Furry, opened a butcher shop. Rebellious and resentful of what she perceived as male privilege, she quit school in the eighth grade to join a theatrical troupe.
She studied piano and voice in Pittsburgh and made her stage debut there in 1907 in the chorus of the Alborn Light Opera Company. Her New York opening was at the Majestic Theater the following year, at which time she met the noted actor, William DeWolf Hopper, 27 years her senior. They married in 1913, and Hedda’s only child, William DeWolf Hopper Jr., was born two years later. The Hoppers divorced soon after.
After a largely lackluster acting career in Hollywood, Hedda worked briefly as an actor’s agent, sold real estate and modeled mail-order clothes.
Over 50 and thought to be a theatrical failure, she took her first step toward establishing herself as a major personality with a gossip column. Hedda got the job because studio executives wanted a rival to the increasingly demanding Louella Parsons. They thought Hedda was someone they could control. They were wrong.
Hopper began with a benign approach but failed to attract attention until she ran her first scandal-tinged item. “The minute I started to trot out the juicy stuff, my phone began to ring,” she recalled in her best selling autobiography “From Under My Hat,” published in 1952.
Hedda’s peak was reached in 1947 when her syndicated column and radio shows were said to attract 35 million Americans. That was the same year she appeared on the cover of Time magazine, a singular achievement. She also became a fervent anti-communist and warned in her column about communist influence in the film industry.
Now, Hedda is back as one of the villains (along with popular mid-century actor John Wayne) in the film “Trumbo,” the story of blacklisted screen writer Dalton Trumbo. Hedda’s character is played by Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren, whose portrayal has been nominated for a Golden Globe Best Supporting Actress award, a precursor to the Oscars. In the film, Hopper and Wayne are depicted as so
biased against supposed communists that they run roughshod over careers and reputations. Hopper simply considers herself to be uncompromisingly patriotic.
Hedda died in 1966. Her closest Blair County relative was Kenton Miller of Martinsburg, who was an undertaker. Kenton’s father was the twin of Hopper’s mother. Hedda’s will directed that her ashes be shipped to the Martinsburg funeral home and that Kenton arrange for burial alongside her parents at Rose Hill Cemetery in Altoona. At that interment was Jeanne (Miller) Bolger, Kenton’s daughter. Jeanne, 87, is today well-known in our area as a entertainer at various retirement homes and other showbiz venues.
Jeanne Bolger represented Hedda at her induction into the Blair County Arts Hall of Fame. Jeanne has passed along personal memorabilia of Hedda’s life to her son, John K. Bolger.
Jim Wentz is a Cove historian and also writes a monthly column for the Mirror.