Elda (Furry) Hopper (1885 - 1966)

Born 2 May 1885 in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, USA

Ancestors

Wife of William DeWolf Hopper — married 8 May 1913 (to 20 Jan 1922) in New Jersey, United States

Descendants

Died 1 Feb 1966 at age 80 in Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California, USA

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Hedda Hopper (Furry) Hopper is Notable.

Biography

American actress and gossip columnist, notorious for feuding with her arch-rival Louella Parsons. She had been a moderately successful actress of stage and screen for years before being offered the chance to write the column Hedda Hopper's Hollywood for the Los Angeles Times in 1938. In the McCarthy era she named suspected Communists. Hopper continued to write gossip until the end, her work appearing in many magazines and later on radio.

Hedda ‘The Hat’ Hopper was one of America’s best known gossip columnists during Hollywood’s Golden Age. Her long standing feud with rival Louella Parsons and the legacy of her trademark hats is the stuff movies are made of. As a young actress in New York, she became known for her love of high fashion hats. She once said, “I can wear a hat or take it off, either way it’s a conversation starter” and boy was she right!

Hedda started her career out as a dancer in the chorus on Broadway stage, but Florenz Ziegfeld called her a “clumsy cow” after trying to get into the Follies. She decided to try her hand at acting by joining the theatre company of matinee idol DeWolfe Hopper and soon afterwards married him. The marriage didn’t last, but it produced a son, William, who became a well known actor in his own right and it introduced Hedda to acting in films. From 1915 to her death in 1966, Hedda appeared in over a 120 films, often playing the society matron thanks to her patrician looks, herself, or femme fatals as she did in her early silent films.

In 1936, Hopper began her Hollywood gossip career with a highly successful radio show. By 1938 the show had morphed into “Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood”, a newspaper column for the Los Angeles Times, which was eventually syndicated. It was through her newspaper column that the public became aware of her love of large flamboyant hats. Hopper’s fans and millinery houses would send her hats hoping that she would mention it in her next column or would be photographed wearing it. Hopper was known for buying up to 150 hats per year and wasn’t afraid of donning the most extravagant or ridiculous creations made. Have fun looking at some of her amazing hats and wonder if we could get away with wearing some of them today.

In 1963 Hedda said, “If you wear a crazy hat, no one notices the tired face beneath it”

Birth, Parents, Marriage, Children, Death and Burial

Hedda Hopper was born as Elda Furry 2 May 1885 in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, the daughter of David Furry, a butcher, and his wife Margaret Miller.^[1] Later in life, she changed her published birth date from 2 May 1885 to 2 June 1890 to conceal her actual age. ^[2]

She was married to William DeWolf Hopper 8 May 1913 in New Jersey.^[3]

Another Bride for Comedian Hopper^[4]

It is reported that DeWolf Hopper has married this very pretty girl. If so she is his fifth wife The fourth--Nella Bergen Hopper--got a final decree of divorce a short time ago. Miss Furry has been on the stage for several years. She is a daughter of a respectable butcher of Altoona, Pa, and Pa Furry is quoted as saying that he will have something to say if he finds that the much married Hopper has taken his daughter to wife to "treat her as a toy" as he believes her four predecessors were treated. It is said Hopper had a bet with Nat Goodwin as to which would be married first. Goodwin married Marjorie Moreland the other day but Hopper claims he was a day ahead of him at the altar.

They were the parents of a son, William DeWolf Hopper Jr, born 26 January 1915. Hedda filed for divorce from Hopper in New York, July 1923. Granted her interlocutory decree and custody of son, Billy, on January 30, 1924.^[5]

Hedda died 1 February 1966 at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 80.^[6][7] Her remains were buried at Rose Hill Cemetery in Altoona, Pennsylvania.^[8]

By coincidence, Hedda died on the same day as Buster Keaton, her co-star in The Stolen Jools (1931), Speak Easily (1932) and Sunset Blvd. (1950).^[9]

Obituary:^[10]

Private Rites Set for Hedda Hopper

Hollywood--A private funeral service for Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper will be held tomorrow morning at the Pierce Brothers Mortuary chapel in Beverly Hills. Miss Hopper, 75, died on pneumonia on Tuesday.

Her son, William Hopper, a television actor, said only he and members of his mother's office staff will attend the service, as specified in her will

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1900", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3MB-RSX : 2 December 2021), Elda Ferry in entry for David D Ferry, 1900.
2. ↑ Hedda Hopper on IMDb.
3. ↑ Elda Furry in the New Jersey, U.S., Marriage Index, 1901-2016. Name: Elda Furry Gender: Female Marriage Date: 1913 Marriage Place: New Jersey, USA Spouse: William D Hopper.
4. ↑ The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume], June 09, 1913, Image 1.
5. ↑ Hedda Hopper on IMDb.
6. ↑ "California Death Index, 1940-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VP4G-4BR : 26 November 2014), Hedda Hopper, 01 Feb 1966; Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento.
7. ↑ "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JBQH-VTY : 11 January 2021), Elda Hopper, Feb 1966; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
8. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/504/hedda-hopper : accessed 02 May 2022), memorial page for Hedda Hopper (2 May 1885–1 Feb 1966), Find a Grave Memorial ID 504, citing Rose Hill Cemetery, Altoona, Blair County, Pennsylvania, USA ; Maintained by Find a Grave .
9. ↑ Hedda Hopper on IMDb.
10. ↑ San Diego Union Friday, Feb 04, 1966 San Diego, CA Page: 13.

See also:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedda_Hopper#Personal_life

• http://prettycleverfilms.com/costume-design-film-fashion/hedda-hoppers-hats/#.WoconqjwbIU

• https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/02/rivalry-hedda-hopper-louella-parsons-gossip-columnists

• https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/02/tilda-swinton-hail-caesar-hedda-hopper-louella-parsons

• http://the-history-girls.blogspot.com/2017/01/hedda-hopper-and-louella-parsons.html

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/504