Carole Lombard's nickname for her was Lollypops.
After the death of her first husband in 1911, she moved to Chicago and got a job as a script reader for Essanay Studios. She later created the first movie column for The Chicago Herald, before moving on to The New York Morning Telegram, where she remained until joining William Randolph Hearst's organisation in 1922.
Became a syndicated Hollywood columnist for William Randolph Hearst, so her "Los Angeles Examiner" column appeared in over six hundred newspapers the world over and made her one of the most powerful voices in the movie business (1925).
Ex-mother-in-law of King Kennedy.
Founder of the Hollywood Women's Press Club.
Godmother of Mia Farrow
Her memoir, The Gay Illiterate, published in 1944, became a bestseller and was followed by Tell It to Louella in 1961.
Is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California.
Is portrayed by Brenda Blethyn in RKO 281 (1999) (TV), by Doris Belack in The Hearst and Davies Affair (1985) (TV), by Anne Bellamy in Bogie (1980) (TV), by Jane Kean in The Scarlett O'Hara War (1980) (TV), by Sandy Martin in Marlene (2000), by Priscilla Morrill in Marilyn: The Untold Story (1980) (TV), by Elizabeth Taylor in Malice in Wonderland (1985) (TV) and by Jennifer Tilly in The Cat's Meow (2001)
She falsified her year of birth to 1893. But that would have been impossible, as her father died in 1890!
She had one child, Harriet Parsons (August 23, 1906-January 2, 1983) who grew up to be one of the first Hollywood film producers.
She was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for radio at 6300 Hollywood Boulevard; and for motion pictures at 6418 Hollywood Boulevard.