Walter Winchell | |
|---|---|
 Winchell in 1960 | |
| Born | (1897-04-07)April 7, 1897 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | February 20, 1972(1972-02-20) (aged 74) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Greenwood/Memory Lawn Mortuary & Cemetery |
| Occupations |
|
| Spouse | |
| Partner | June Magee (1928–1970) |
| Children | 3 |
Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972) was an American syndicatednewspapergossip columnist andradio news commentator. Originally avaudeville performer, Winchell began his newspaper career as a Broadway reporter, critic and columnist for New Yorktabloids. He rose to nationalcelebrity in the 1930s withHearst newspaper chain syndication and a popular radio program. He was known for an innovative style of gossipystaccato news briefs,jokes, andJazz Age slang. BiographerNeal Gabler said that his popularity and influence "turned journalism into a form of entertainment".[1]
He uncovered bothhard news and embarrassing stories about famous people by exploiting his exceptionally wide circle of contacts, first in the entertainment world and theProhibition era underworld, then in law enforcement and politics. He was known for trading gossip, sometimes in return for his silence. His outspoken style made him both feared and admired. Novels and movies were based on his wisecracking gossip columnist persona, as early as the play and filmBlessed Event in 1932. AsWorld War II approached in the 1930s, he attacked the appeasers ofNazism, then in the 1950s aligned withJoseph McCarthy in his campaign againstcommunists. He damaged the reputation ofJosephine Baker as well as others who had earned his enmity.
He returned to television in 1959 as the narrator of the 1930s-set crime drama seriesThe Untouchables.[2] Over the years he appeared in more than two dozen films and television productions as an actor, sometimes playing himself.
Winchell was born inNew York City, the son of Jennie (Bakst) and Jacob Winchell, a cantor and salesman; they were Russian Jewish immigrants.[3] He left school in the sixth grade and started performing inGus Edwards'svaudeville troupe the Newsboys Sextet, which also featuredEddie Cantor andGeorge Jessel.[3] During this time, Winchell performed as a tap dancer.[4] He served in theU.S. Navy duringWorld War I, reaching the rank oflieutenant commander.[2][5]
Winchell began his career in journalism by posting notes about his acting troupe on backstage bulletin boards. He joined theVaudeville News in 1920, then left the paper for theEvening Graphic in 1924, where his column was namedMainly About Mainstreeters. He was hired on June 10, 1929, by theNew York Daily Mirror, where he became the author of the first syndicated gossip column,[6]On-Broadway. The column was syndicated byKing Features Syndicate.[7]
He made his radio debut overWABC in New York, aCBS affiliate, on May 12, 1930.[8] The show,Saks on Broadway, was a 15-minute feature that provided business news about Broadway. He switched to WJZ (later renamedWABC) and theNBC Blue (laterABC Radio) in 1932 for theJergens Journal.[8][9]
Walter Winchell's radio-acting career included an episode ofLux Radio Theatre, when on June 28, 1937 he played the role of newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson in a one-hour adaptation ofThe Front Page.[10]
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By the 1930s, Winchell was "an intimate friend ofOwney Madden, New York's no. 1 gang leader of theprohibition era,"[11] but in 1932 his intimacy with criminals caused him to fear he would be murdered. He fled toCalifornia and "returned weeks later with a new enthusiasm for law,G-men,Uncle Sam, [and]Old Glory".[11] His coverage of theLindbergh kidnapping and subsequent trial received national attention. Within two years, he befriendedJ. Edgar Hoover. He was responsible for turningLouis "Lepke" Buchalter ofMurder, Inc. over to Hoover.
Hisnewspaper column was syndicated in a wide array of newspapers worldwide, and he was read by millions every day from the 1920s until the early 1960s. His Sunday night radio broadcast was heard by another 20 million people from 1930 to the late 1950s. In 1948, Winchell had the top-rated radio show when he surpassedFred Allen andJack Benny.[12] One indicator of his popularity was being mentioned inRichard Rodgers andLorenz Hart's 1937 song "The Lady Is a Tramp": "I follow Winchell and read every line."[13]
Winchell was one of the first commentators in America to attackAdolf Hitler and American pro-fascist and pro-Nazi organizations such as theGerman-American Bund, especially its leaderFritz Julius Kuhn. He was a staunch supporter of PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt and theNew Deal throughout theDepression era, and frequently served as the Roosevelt Administration's mouthpiece in favor of interventionism as the European war crisis loomed in the late 1930s.[1] Early on, he denounced American isolationists as appeasing Hitler, and explicitly attacked such prominent isolationists asCharles Lindbergh, whom he dubbed "The Lone Ostrich", andGerald L.K. Smith, whom he denounced as "Gerald Lucifer KKKodfish Smith". Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Winchell was also an outspoken supporter ofcivil rights for African Americans, and frequently attacked theKu Klux Klan and other racist groups as supporting un-American, pro-German goals.
During World War II, he attacked theNational Maritime Union, the labor organization for the civilianUnited States Merchant Marine, which he said was run by Communists, instancing West Coast labor leaderHarry Bridges.[14] In 1948 and 1949, he and influential columnistDrew Pearson attackedSecretary of DefenseJames Forrestal in columns and radio broadcasts.[15]
Subsequently, Winchell began to denounce Communism as the main threat facing America.
During the 1950s, Winchell supported SenatorJoseph McCarthy's quest to identify Communists in the entertainment industry. His weekly radio broadcast was broadcast on ABC television on the same day. His program debuted on TV on October 5, 1952. Sponsored by Gruen Watch Company, it originated fromWJZ-TV from 6:45 to 7 p.m. ET.[16] By 1953,[17] his radio and television broadcasts were simulcast until he ended that association because of a dispute with ABC executives in 1955. He starred inThe Walter Winchell File, a television crime drama series that initially aired from 1957 to 1958, dramatizing cases from the New York City Police Department that were covered in theNew York Daily Mirror. In 1956, he signed with NBC to host a variety program calledThe Walter Winchell Show, which was canceled after only 13 weeks—a particularly bitter failure in view of the success of his longtime rivalEd Sullivan in a similar format withThe Ed Sullivan Show.[18]: 434–435 ABC rehired him in 1959 to narrateThe Untouchables for four seasons. In 1960, a revival of the 1955 television simulcast of Winchell's radio broadcast was canceled after six weeks.
In the early 1960s, a public dispute withJack Paar effectively ended Winchell's career—already in decline due to a shift in power from print to television.[19] Winchell had angered Paar several years earlier when he refused to retract an item alleging that Paar was having marital difficulties. BiographerNeal Gabler described the exchange onPaar's show in 1961:
HostessElsa Maxwell appeared on the program and began gibing at Walter, accusing him of hypocrisy for waving the flag while never having voted [which, incidentally, wasn't true; the show later issued a retraction]. Paar joined in. He said Walter's column was "written by a fly" and that his voice was so high because he wears "too-tight underwear" … [H]e also told the story of the mistaken item about his marriage, and cracked that Walter had a "hole in his soul".[20]
On subsequent programs, Paar called Winchell a "silly old man" and cited other examples of his underhanded tactics.[21] No one had previously criticized Winchell publicly, but by then his influence had eroded to the point that he could not effectively respond. TheNew York Daily Mirror, his flagship newspaper for 34 years, closed in 1963; his readership dropped steadily, and he faded from the public eye.[22]
Winchell became known for his attempts to destroy the careers of his political and personal enemies as his own career progressed, especially after World War II. Favorite tactics were allegations of having ties to Communist organizations and accusations of sexual impropriety.[23] He was not above name-calling; for example, he called New York radio hostBarry Gray "Borey Pink" and a "disk jerk".[24] Winchell heard that Marlen Edwin Pew of the trade journalEditor & Publisher had criticized him as a bad influence and called him "Marlen Pee-you".[11]
For most of his career, his contracts with newspaper and radio employers required them tohold him harmless from any damages resulting from lawsuits forslander or libel.[25] He unapologetically published material told to him in confidence by friends; when confronted over such betrayals, he typically responded, "I know—I'm just a son of a bitch."[11] By the mid-1950s, he was widely seen as arrogant, cruel, and ruthless.[26]
While on an American tour in 1951,Josephine Baker, who never performed before segregated audiences, criticized theStork Club's unwritten policy of discouraging black patrons, then scolded Winchell, an old ally, for not rising to her defense. Winchell responded swiftly with a series of harsh public rebukes, including accusations of Communist sympathies.[1] He spurned any attempts by friends to mitigate the heated rhetoric. The ensuing publicity resulted in the termination of Baker's work visa, forcing her to cancel all her engagements and return to France. It was almost a decade before U.S. officials allowed her back into the country. The adverse publicity of this, and similar incidents, undercut his credibility and power.[27]
In his radio and television broadcasts on April 4, 1954, Winchell helped stoke public fear of the polio vaccine. He said, "Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. America ... and all the ships at sea. Attention everyone. In a few moments I will report on a new polio vaccine claimed to be a polio cure. It may be a killer." Winchell claimed that the U.S. Public Health Services found live polio viruses in seven of ten vaccine batches it tested, reporting, "It killed several monkeys ... the United States Public Health Service will confirm this in about 10 days."Jonas Salk, developer of the polio vaccine, immediately responded that the vaccine, which had been recently tested on 7,500 schoolchildren at the University of Pittsburgh, had been triple tested for the absence of live virus by its manufacturers, the National Institutes of Health, and his own research lab, and that similar testing would continue to screen out batches containing live virus.[28]
Many other columnists began to write gossip soon after Winchell's initial success, such asEd Sullivan, who succeeded him at theNew York Evening Graphic, andLouella Parsons in Los Angeles. He wrote in a style filled with slang and incomplete sentences. Winchell's casual writing style famously earned him the ire of mobsterDutch Schultz, who confronted him at New York'sCotton Club and publicly lambasted him for using the phrase "pushover" to describe Schultz's penchant for blonde women.[29] Winchell's best known aphorisms include: "Nothing recedes like success" and "I usually get my stuff from people who promised somebody else that they would keep it a secret".
Herman Klurfeld, a ghostwriter for Winchell for almost three decades, began writing four newspaper columns per week for Winchell in 1936 and worked for him for 29 years. He also wrote many of the signature one-liners, called "lasties", that Winchell used at the end of his radio broadcasts. One of Klurfeld's quips was "She's been on more laps than a napkin". In 1952, theNew York Post revealed that Klurfeld was Winchell's ghostwriter.[30] Klurfeld later wrote a biography of Winchell,Winchell, His Life and Times, the basis for the television filmWinchell (1998).
Winchell opened his radio broadcasts by pressing randomly on atelegraph key, a sound that created a sense of urgency and importance, and using the catchphrase "Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. America from border to border and coast to coast and all the ships at sea. Let's go to press." He then read each of his stories with a staccato delivery (up to a rate of 197 words per minute, though he claimed a speed of well over 200 words per minute in an interview in 1967),[31] noticeably faster than the typical pace of American speech. His diction can also be heard in his breathless narration of the television seriesThe Untouchables (1959–1963), as well as in several Hollywood films.
On August 11, 1919, Winchell married Rita Greene, one of his onstage partners. The couple separated a few years later, and he moved in with Elizabeth June Magee, who had already adopted daughter Gloria and given birth to her and Winchell's first child Walda in 1927.[32] Winchell divorced Greene in 1928, but never married Magee, although they lived together for the rest of their lives.
Winchell and Magee had three children. Daughter Gloria died of pneumonia at age nine and Walda spent time inpsychiatric hospitals.[33] Walter Jr. died by suicide in the family garage on Christmas night of 1968.[34] Having spent the previous two years on welfare, Walter Jr. had last been employed as a dishwasher inSanta Ana, California; for a time, he wrote a column in theLos Angeles Free Press, anunderground newspaper published from 1964 to 1978.[35]
In the 1960s, Winchell wrote some columns for the film magazinePhotoplay.[36] He announced his retirement on February 5, 1969, citing his son's suicide as a major reason as well as the delicate health of his companion, June Magee. Exactly one year after his retirement, Magee died at a hospital inPhoenix, Arizona, while undergoing treatment for a heart condition.[37]
Winchell spent his final two years as a recluse at theAmbassador Hotel in Los Angeles.[38] He died at age 74 in Los Angeles and is buried atGreenwood/Memory Lawn Mortuary & Cemetery in Phoenix.[39]Larry King, whose column replaced Winchell's in theMiami Herald, recalled:
He was so sad. You know what Winchell was doing at the end? Typing out mimeographed sheets with his column, handing them out on the corner. That's how sad he got. When he died, only one person came to his funeral: his daughter.[40]
Several of Winchell's former co-workers expressed a willingness to go but were turned back by Walda.[41]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930 | The Bard on Broadway (Short) | Himself | Film debut |
| 1933 | I Know Everybody and Everybody's Racket (Short) | Himself | [a] |
| 1933 | Beauty on Broadway (Short) | Himself | |
| Broadway Thru a Keyhole | Himself | Also writer | |
| 1937 | Wake Up and Live | Himself | |
| Love and Hisses | Himself | ||
| 1947 | Daisy Kenyon | Himself | |
| 1949 | Sorrowful Jones | Himself | Voice, uncredited |
| 1955 | There's No Business Like Show Business | Himself | Voice, uncredited |
| 1956 | The Walter Winchell Show | Himself | 3 episodes |
| 1957 | A Face in the Crowd | Himself | |
| Beau James | Narrator | ||
| The Helen Morgan Story | Himself | ||
| Telephone Time | Himself | 1 episode | |
| 1957–1959 | The Walter Winchell File | Himself/host/'Two Gun' Crowley | |
| 1959 | Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse | Narrator | Voice, 3 episodes |
| 1959–1963 | The Untouchables | Narrator | Voice, 119 episodes |
| 1960 | The Bellboy | Narrator | Voice, uncredited |
| College Confidential | Himself | ||
| 1961 | Dondi | Himself | |
| 1962 | Wild Harvest | Narrator | Voice |
| 1964 | Valentine's Day | Radio Announcer | Voice, 1 episode |
| 1966 | The Lucy Show | Narrator | Voice |
| 1967 | The Kraft Music Hall | Himself | |
| 1968 | Single Room Furnished | Himself | Uncredited |
| Wild in the Streets | Himself | Final film, uncredited |
Even during Winchell's lifetime, journalists were critical of his effect on the media. In 1940,St. Clair McKelway, who had earlier written a series of articles about him inThe New Yorker, wrote inTime:
the effect of Winchellism on the standards of the press... When Winchell began gossiping in 1924 for the late scatological tabloidEvening Graphic, no U.S. paper hawked rumors about the marital relations of public figures until they turned up in divorce courts. For 16 years, gossip columns spread until even the staidNew York Times whispered that it heard from friends of a son of the President that he was going to be divorced. In its first year,The Graphic would have considered this news not fit to print... Gossip-writing is at present like aspirochete in the body of journalism... Newspapers... have never been held in less esteem by their readers or exercised less influence on the political and ethical thought of the times.[11]
Winchell responded, "Oh stop! You talk like a high-school student of journalism."[11]
Despite the controversy surrounding Winchell, his popularity allowed him to leverage support for causes he valued. In 1946, after the death from cancer of his close friend and fellow writerDamon Runyon, Winchell appealed to his radio audience for contributions to fight the disease. The response led Winchell to establish the Damon Runyon Cancer Memorial Fund, since renamed theDamon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. He led the charity with the support of celebrities, includingMarlene Dietrich,Bob Hope,Milton Berle,Marilyn Monroe, andJoe DiMaggio, until his death from cancer in 1972.
In 1950,Ernest Lehman, a former publicity writer for Irving Hoffman ofThe Hollywood Reporter, wrote a story forCosmopolitan titled "Tell Me About It Tomorrow". The piece is about a ruthless journalist, J.J. Hunsecker, and is generally thought to be a thinly veiled commentary on the power Winchell wielded at the height of his influence. It was made into the 1957 filmSweet Smell of Success, with a screenplay by Lehman andClifford Odets.[42]
Winchell is credited for coining the word "frienemy" in an article published by theNevada State Journal on 19 May 1953.[43][44]
Winchell's colorful and widely imitated language inspired the term "Winchellism."[45] An etymologist of his day said, "Winchell has achieved the position of dictator of contemporary slang."[46] His use of slang, innuendo, and invented euphemisms also protected him from libel accusations.[1]
Winchell invented phrases viewed as slightly racy at the time. Some of the expressions for falling in love Winchell used were "pashing it", "sizzle for", "that way", "go for each other", "garbo-ing it", "uh-huh"; and in a similar vein, "newGarbo, trouser-crease-eraser", and "pash". Some Winchellisms for marriage are "middle-aisle it", "altar it", "handcuffed", "Mendelssohn March", "Lohengrin it", and "merged".[46]
His ranking among the most listened-to radio programs climbed higher and higher until in 1948 his audience was the biggest in radio.
"Paar's feud with newspaper columnist Walter Winchell marked a major turning point in American media power. No one had ever dared criticize Winchell because a few lines in his column could destroy a career, but when Winchell disparaged Paar in print, Paar fought back and mocked Winchell repeatedly on the air. Paar's criticisms effectively ended Winchell's career. The tables had turned, now TV had the power."
