ZaSu Pitts called her a ferret. Katharine Hepburn kicked her in the backside, while Joseph Cotton pulled away a chair as she was sitting down. Joan Bennett sent her a skunk on Valentine’s Day. Elda Furry (1885-1966) was not the most popular person in Hollywood.
And understandably so. As one of the town’s two demon gossip columnists (with Louella Parsons), Hopper became far too influential than might be hoped for a right-wing racist, and she helped to destroy many people’s lives and careers, not least as a cheerleader for the blacklist during the HUAC years.
Prior to her career in yellow journalism, Hopper had been an actor, initially on the stage and in Hollywood from 1923. She made around 120 appearances, none of them memorable, and amongst which were parts in two MGM musicals: The Prodigal and Flying High. A few years later, her career in the doldrums, Hopper took up the poison pen. Subsequent acting roles were generally offered to keep her on side, and most of later appearances were playing herself (something she did less effectively than Helen Mirren in Trumbo [2015]).
