Jimmie Fidler (August 26, 1898 – August 9, 1988) was an American columnist, journalist and radio and television personality. He wrote a Hollywood

gossip column A gossip columnist is someone who writes a gossip column in a newspaper or magazine, especially in a gossip magazine. Gossip columns are written in a light, informal style, and relate opinions about the personal lives or conduct of celebrities f ...

and was sometimes billed as Jimmy Fidler. Born James Marion Fidler in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, Fidler was a Hollywood publicist and advertising man who became a highly successful syndicated columnist with his "Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood" column in 187 outlets, including the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'' and the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''. In 1933–34, his 15-minute

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

radio show, ''Hollywood on the Air'', sponsored by Tangee lipstick, was broadcast from the

Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, also known as Hotel Roosevelt, is a historic hotel located at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California. History Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel was built in 1926, in what is known as t ...

. He was regarded in Hollywood as a genuine threat to gossip queen

Louella Parsons Louella Rose Oettinger, (August 6, 1881 – December 9, 1972) known by the pen name 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 ...

, especially after he scooped her in November 1935 on a major story about

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American actor often referred to as the "King of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". He appeared in more than 60 Film, motion pictures across a variety of Film genre, genres dur ...

, an incident so embarrassing to Parsons that she lied about it in her autobiography.

Films

Fidler had brief experience in movies before he became a columnist. Winning first prize in a contest in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, took him to Hollywood. Once there, he was an extra before he "worked his way to semi-important roles". Fidler interviewed film personalities for the Hollywood segments of ''

Fox Movietone News Movietone News was a newsreel that ran from December 1927 to 1963 in the United States. Under the name British Movietone News, it also ran in the United Kingdom from 1929 to 1986, in France also produced by Fox-Europa, in Spain in the early 1930s a ...

''. Such was Fidler's influence that a negative comment by him could affect the

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...

drawing power of a star. According to ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', in January 1938 he was sued for libel by

Constance Bennett Constance Campbell Bennett (October 22, 1904 – July 24, 1965) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actress and producer. She was a major Cinema of the United States, Hollywood star during the 1920s and 1930s; during the early 193 ...

for $250,000 after he reported she snubbed

Patsy Kelly Patsy Kelly (born Bridget Sarah Veronica Rose Kelly; January 12, 1910 – September 24, 1981) was an American actress. She is known for her role as the brash, wisecracking sidekick to Thelma Todd in a series of comedy shorts produced by Ha ...

on a

Hal Roach Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr. Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director and screenwriter, ...

movie set and that studio workmen bought flowers for Kelly but none for Bennett. Fidler won the case, with the judge ruling that remarks against a public character, even if false, are not libelous if made without malice. In 1938, Fidler made a short MGM

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

, ''Personality Parade'', about actors making the change from

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

s to

talkies A sound film is a Film, motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, bu ...

. It featured clips of more than 60 performers whose careers began in silent films.

Television

By 1950, Fidler was earning more than $250,000 a year and was heard by 40 million listeners over 486 radio stations. During 1952–53, he hosted the live television drama series, ''

Hollywood Opening Night ''Hollywood Opening Night'' is an American anthology television program that was broadcast on CBS in 1951-1952 and on NBC in 1952-1953. The NBC version was the first dramatic anthology presented live from the West Coast. Episodes were 30 minutes ...

'' on NBC."Obituary: Jimmie Fidler," ''The New York Times'', August 12, 1988.
/ref> Fidler continued his radio program in independent syndication until his retirement in late 1983, at the age of 85. For his contribution to the radio industry, Fidler has a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

at 6128 Hollywood Blvd.

References

External links

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fidler, Jimmie 1898 births 1988 deaths 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American gossip columnists American male journalists American male non-fiction writers American radio personalities American television personalities Jewish American journalists Jewish American non-fiction writers Writers from St. Louis

Films

Television

See also

References

External links