Ida Brockway "Kay" Koverman (May 15, 1876 – November 24, 1954) was an American film executive. She is best known as the woman who "ran

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

" as

Louis B. Mayer Louis Burt Mayer (; born Lazar Meir; July 12, 1882 or 1884 or 1885 – October 29, 1957) was a Canadian-American film producer and co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios (MGM) in 1924. Under Mayer's management, MGM became the film industr ...

's executive secretary and, later, director of public relations for the studio.

Early life and work

Ida Brockway was born on May 15, 1876 in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. As a teenager, she worked in a local jewelry store. After attending business school, she became a stenographer and joined the U. S. Customs office in Cincinnati. In the wake of a sensational scandal, in 1910, she married Oscar H. Koverman. She then moved to New York where she held various jobs until she was hired by the company Gold Fields American Development Corporation (GFADC), not Herbert Hoover's better known Consolidated Gold Fields of South Africa. Oscar and Ida divorced in 1923. He remarried and died tragically in 1934. After moving to California, Ida Koverman worked as the executive secretary of the Los Angeles County Central Committee of the state Republican Party. Working alongside engineer-entrepreneur Ralph Arnold, and allying with like-minded women leaders, she helped to lead the vanguard that won the White House for Herbert Hoover in 1928.

Career at MGM

In 1929,

hired Koverman as his executive secretary. Previously, she had facilitated Louis B. Mayer's entre into the state party and facilitated Mayer's relationship Herbert Hoover. Already a well-known politico, when she joined MGM, the press noted that as "a political expert" she was employed "to keep Mr. Mayer advised politically."Smyth, p. 76. Koverman's reputation continued to grow. Columnist

Jimmie Fidler Jimmie Fidler (August 26, 1898 – August 9, 1988) was an American columnist, journalist and radio and television personality. He wrote a Hollywood gossip column and was sometimes billed as Jimmy Fidler. Born James Marion Fidler in St. Lou ...

wrote in 1938 that "she happens to be one of the most powerful personages in the entire motion-picture industry." MGM executive Robert Vogel said she "damn near ran the studio." Koverman helped discover, develop, and mentor stars for the studio, including Robert Taylor,

Nelson Eddy Nelson Ackerman Eddy (June 29, 1901 – March 6, 1967) was an American actor and baritone singer who appeared in 19 musical films during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as in opera and on the concert stage, radio, television, and in nightclub ...

, Robert Montgomery,

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

Leatrice Joy Leatrice Joy (born Leatrice Johanna Zeidler; November 7, 1893 – May 13, 1985) was an American actress most prolific during the silent film era. Early life Joy was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to dentist Edward Joseph Zeidler, who was o ...

Jean Parker Jean Parker (born Lois May Green; August 11, 1915 – November 30, 2005) was an American film and stage actress. A native of Montana, indigent during the Great Depression, she was adopted by a family in Pasadena, California at age ten. She in ...

Jeanette MacDonald Jeanette Anna MacDonald (June 18, 1903 – January 14, 1965) was an American singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier (''The Love Parade'', '' Love Me Tonight'', ''The Merry Widow'' and '' On ...

, Elizabeth Taylor, and

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

. It has been suggested that at Koverman's suggestion, MGM ran a school for young stars; Elizabeth Taylor, Judy Garland,

Lana Turner Lana Turner ( ; born Julia Jean Turner; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over the course of her nearly 50-year career, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized pe ...

, Jackie Cooper, Mickey Rooney,

Peter Lawford Peter Sydney Ernest Lawford ( Aylen; 7 September 1923 – 24 December 1984) was an English-American actor.Obituary '' Variety'', 26 December 1984. He was a member of the " Rat Pack" and the brother-in-law of US president John F. Kennedy and se ...

and

Donna Reed Donna Reed (born Donna Belle Mullenger; January 27, 1921 – January 14, 1986) was an American actress. Her career spanned more than 40 years, with performances in more than 40 films. She is well known for her portrayal of Mary Hatch Bailey in ...

all attended. Long known as a conservative Republican, Koverman supported causes that reflected her political persuasion. In 1947, Koverman helped form the Hollywood Republican Committee with Robert Montgomery and

George Murphy George Lloyd Murphy (July 4, 1902 – May 3, 1992) was an American dancer, actor, and politician. Murphy was a song-and-dance leading man in many big-budget Hollywood musicals from 1930 to 1952. He was the president of the Screen Actors Guild fro ...

. She campaigned for

Thomas E. Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...

in 1948 and for

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

's 1950 senate run.Smyth, p. 80-81. It is alleged that

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

once offered her $1000 a week to work for him at

RKO RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheu ...

. Koverman declined. She worked as Louis B. Mayer's executive secretary until 1951, when

Nicholas Schenck Nicholas M. Schenck (14 November 1880, Rybinsk, Russia – 4 March 1969, Florida) was a Russian-American film studio executive and businessman. Biography Early life One of seven children, Schenck was born to a Jewish household in Rybinsk, ...

made her head of public relations for MGM. Ida Koverman died on November 24, 1954 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

In popular culture

Koverman appears as a character in two biopics about Judy Garland: ''Rainbow'' (1978, played by

Rue McClanahan Eddi-Rue McClanahan (February 21, 1934 – June 3, 2010) was an American actress and comedian best known for her roles on television as Vivian Harmon on '' Maude'' (1972–78), Aunt Fran Crowley on '' Mama's Family'' (1983–84), and Blanche ...

) and ''Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows'' (2001, played by

Rosemary Dunsmore Rosemary Dunsmore (born July 13, 1952) is a Canadian TV, film, and theatre actress, director, and educator. She was awarded a Dora Mavor Moore Award for her 1982 performance in ''Straight Ahead/Blind Dancers''. In 2009 she won the ACTRA Award f ...

). Koverman is also a character in the 1985 film ''Malice in Wonderland'' (played by

Bonnie Bartlett Bonnie Bartlett (born June 20, 1929) is an American actress. Her career spans seven decades, with her first major role being on a 1950s daytime drama, ''Love of Life''. Bartlett is known for her role as Grace Snider Edwards on the Michael Land ...

). Koverman appears as a character in

Adriana Trigiani Adriana Trigiani is an American best-selling author of eighteen books, playwright, television writer/producer, film director/screenwriter/producer, and entrepreneur based in New York City. Trigiani has published a novel a year since 2000. E ...

's novel ''All the Stars in the Heavens''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koverman, Ida 1876 births 1954 deaths People from Cincinnati American film studio executives Republican Party (United States) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives Ohio Republicans California Republicans