Sheilah Graham Westbrook
Encyclopedia
Sheilah Graham Westbrook (September 15, 1904 – November 17, 1988) was an English
-born American
nationally syndicated
gossip columnist
during Hollywood's "Golden Age," who with Louella Parsons
and Hedda Hopper
wielded power to make or break careers prompting her to describe herself as "the Last of the unholy trio."
Graham was also known for her relationship with F. Scott Fitzgerald
, which she played a part in immortalizing through her autobiographical account of that period, Beloved Infidel, a best-seller made into a movie. In her youth, she had been a showgirl, and a freelance writer for Fleet Street
, and published a few short stories and two novels. These early experiences would converge in a career that spanned nearly four decades as a successful columnist and author.
, England
, the youngest of Louis and Rebecca Sheil's six children. Her father, an immigrant Ukrainian
Jewish tailor who had fled the pogrom
s, died of tuberculosis
on a trip to Berlin
while she was still an infant. Mother and children moved to a basement flat in a Stepney Green slum in the East of London. Her mother, who spoke little English, struggled to provide for her children there by cleaning public lavatories. In 1914 her mother was forced by these dire circumstances to place her, at age 6, in the Jews Hospital and Orphanage.
In "Recollections of Sheilah Graham," her daughter, Wendy Fairey, relates, "Entering this institution at age six, my mother had her golden hair shaved to the scalp as a precaution against lice. To the end of her life she was haunted by the degradation of this experience. Eight years later when she 'graduated,' she had established herself as Norwood's 'head girl:' captain of the cricket team and recipient of many prizes, including both the Hebrew prize and a prize for reciting a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
."
Although Graham, then still known as Lily, had been trained for a career in teaching, when she left the Orphanage, her mother was dying of cancer, and so she returned home to care for her.
Upon her mother's death, the sixteen-year-old took a job in a department store demonstrating a specialty toothbrush, and moved into her own tiny flat in London
's West End
. At eighteen, she married John Graham Gillam, whom her daughter describes in the above-cited memoir as "a kindly older man who proved impotent, went bankrupt, and looked the other way when she went out with other men." During this marriage, largely through the tutelage of her husband, she improved her speech and manners. She also enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, changed her name, and became a Music Hall
dancer as a "Cochran's girl."
It was during her time in the English musical theater that Graham began to write professionally, anecdotally receiving two guineas
from the Daily Express
for an article entitled, "The Stage Door Johnnies, by a Chorus Girl," which she wrote on a challenge by her husband. While still in England, she attained some success as a freelance writer, and published two novels, both of which sold poorly.
and the Journal
She energetically pursued scoops, and wrote features with sensational headlines like "Who Cheats Most in Marriage?," a survey comparing the unfaithfulness of various nationalities of men.
In 1935, John Neville Wheeler
, head of the North American Newspaper Alliance
which was becoming the pre-eminent press service, recruited her to write NANA's syndicated Hollywood column. She describes having "landed in the film capital on two left feet," and needing to temper her brash outspokenness with film industry sensibilities. She also relates
in her autobiographical book, A College of One, the dichotomy between dealing with "notoriously ignorant" moviemakers and the discomfort she felt over her own limited education and background in the company of her colleagues in journalism, and screenwriters, mentioning Robert Benchley
, Marc Connelly
, Dorothy Parker
, and, of course, F. Scott Fitzgerald, with whom she would soon become an intimate long time companion.
. The column would reach a peak of being carried in 178 papers in 1966, as compared to 100 papers for rival Louella Parsons
and 68 for Hedda Hopper
.
She divorced from John Gillam in June 1937, to become engaged to the Marquess of Donegall
. A month later, she was to meet F. Scott Fitzgerald, with whom she relates having immediately fallen in love, and the engagement was broken soon thereafter. Ruthe Stein quotes her as saying, "I'll only be remembered, if I'm remembered at all, because of Scott Fitzgerald."
They shared a home, were constant companions, and Fitzgerald was still married to his wife, Zelda, who was institutionalized in an asylum. Nonetheless, Graham protested her description as his "mistress" in her book, The Rest of the Story, on the basis that she was "a woman who loved Scott Fitzgerald for better or worse until he died." It was, in fact, she who found his body in their living room, where he died of a heart attack in 1940. They had been together only 3-1/2 years, but her daughter reports that Graham "never really got over him." During those three years, Scott outlined a "curriculum" for her, and guided her through it, which she later wrote about in detail in A College of One.
Upon Fitzgerald's death, seeking a respite from the social demands and frantic pace of covering "the film capital of the world," Graham arranged for an assignment as a foreign correspondent in NANA's London bureau. This also afforded her the opportunity to demonstrate her abilities as a serious journalist. Her first major story from England was an in-depth interview with George Bernard Shaw
, and she would later file another with Britain's war prime minister, Winston Churchill
. Her brief respite from Hollywood would stretch to the conclusion of the war
,
While in her native England, she met Trevor Cresswell Lawrence Westbrook, whose company manufactured Spitfire
fighter planes for the Royal Air Force
. After her return to the United States in late 1941, they married. Graham's two children, Wendy and Robert
were born during this marriage, which ended in divorce in 1946, and were given the Westbrook surname. Wendy, however, in her autobiographical book, One of the Family, writes of discovering as an adult that her father was, in fact, British philosopher, A. J. Ayer. Ayer also suggested that Robert’s biological father was most likely the Hollywood actor Robert Taylor
.
In August, 1947, Graham was naturalized
as a United States citizen, and in February 1953, married her third husband, Stanley Wojtkiewicz, whom she was later to describe as a man "of Polish ancestry with an unpronounceable name." They were divorced after about two years of marriage.
Neither her foray into the world of foreign correspondence, nor even motherhood prevented Graham from achieving her ambition to reach the top in her career. She demanded a salary of $5,000 a week to resume her column, an amount comparable to that of the stars she was covering. In addition, she was a regular contributor to Photoplay
and had own radio program, moving to television in 1951, where she delivered commentary and celebrity interviews, a forerunner to the talk show
. From 1952-1953, Variety
, read widely within the entertainment industry, carried a separate gossip column by Graham, which differed in content, style, and attention to precise accuracy from that which she wrote for the general public.
In April 1969 Graham changed the name and format of her syndicated column, citing waning public interest in Hollywood gossip. Retitled, "Hollywood Everywhere," the scope was broadened to include celebrities and public figures outside of the entertainment world, and would include more diverse commentary.
, where she continued for several years to make celebrity guest appearances on television and wrote on a freelance basis for magazines, and authored no fewer than nine more books.
Graham died on November 17, 1988 in Palm Beach of congestive heart failure at the age of 84.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
-born American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
nationally syndicated
Print syndication
Print syndication distributes news articles, columns, comic strips and other features to newspapers, magazines and websites. They offer reprint rights and grant permissions to other parties for republishing content of which they own/represent copyrights....
gossip columnist
Gossip columnist
A gossip columnist is someone who writes a gossip column in a newspaper or magazine, especially a gossip magazine. Gossip columns are material written in a light, informal style, which relates the gossip columnist's opinions about the personal lives or conduct of celebrities from show business ,...
during Hollywood's "Golden Age," who with Louella Parsons
Louella Parsons
Louella Parsons was the first American news-writer movie columnist in the United States. She was a gossip columnist who, for many years, was an influential arbiter of Hollywood mores, often feared and hated by the individuals, mostly actors, whose careers she could negatively impact via her...
and Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper was an American actress and gossip columnist, whose long-running feud with friend turned arch-rival Louella Parsons became at least as notorious as many of Hopper's columns.-Early life:...
wielded power to make or break careers prompting her to describe herself as "the Last of the unholy trio."
Graham was also known for her relationship with F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
, which she played a part in immortalizing through her autobiographical account of that period, Beloved Infidel, a best-seller made into a movie. In her youth, she had been a showgirl, and a freelance writer for Fleet Street
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
, and published a few short stories and two novels. These early experiences would converge in a career that spanned nearly four decades as a successful columnist and author.
Early life
Born as Lily Sheil in LeedsLeeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the youngest of Louis and Rebecca Sheil's six children. Her father, an immigrant Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
Jewish tailor who had fled the pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
s, died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
on a trip to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
while she was still an infant. Mother and children moved to a basement flat in a Stepney Green slum in the East of London. Her mother, who spoke little English, struggled to provide for her children there by cleaning public lavatories. In 1914 her mother was forced by these dire circumstances to place her, at age 6, in the Jews Hospital and Orphanage.
In "Recollections of Sheilah Graham," her daughter, Wendy Fairey, relates, "Entering this institution at age six, my mother had her golden hair shaved to the scalp as a precaution against lice. To the end of her life she was haunted by the degradation of this experience. Eight years later when she 'graduated,' she had established herself as Norwood's 'head girl:' captain of the cricket team and recipient of many prizes, including both the Hebrew prize and a prize for reciting a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era. Her poetry was widely popular in both England and the United States during her lifetime. A collection of her last poems was published by her husband, Robert Browning, shortly after her death.-Early life:Members...
."
Although Graham, then still known as Lily, had been trained for a career in teaching, when she left the Orphanage, her mother was dying of cancer, and so she returned home to care for her.
Marriage to John Graham Gillam
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
. At eighteen, she married John Graham Gillam, whom her daughter describes in the above-cited memoir as "a kindly older man who proved impotent, went bankrupt, and looked the other way when she went out with other men." During this marriage, largely through the tutelage of her husband, she improved her speech and manners. She also enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, changed her name, and became a Music Hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
dancer as a "Cochran's girl."
It was during her time in the English musical theater that Graham began to write professionally, anecdotally receiving two guineas
Guinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...
from the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
for an article entitled, "The Stage Door Johnnies, by a Chorus Girl," which she wrote on a challenge by her husband. While still in England, she attained some success as a freelance writer, and published two novels, both of which sold poorly.
Early career
In 1933, Graham struck out on her own to seek fame and fortune in America, leaving behind her first husband, whom she would divorce in June 1937. Her modest youthful success as a writer enabled her to land jobs as a staff reporter in New York, working successively for the MirrorNew York Mirror
The New-York Mirror was a weekly newspaper published in New York City from 1823 to 1842, and again as a daily newspaper renamed The Evening Mirror from 1844 to 1898.-History:...
and the Journal
New York Journal American
The New York Journal American was a newspaper published from 1937 to 1966. The Journal American was the product of a merger between two New York newspapers owned by William Randolph Hearst: The New York American , a morning paper, and the New York Evening Journal, an afternoon paper...
She energetically pursued scoops, and wrote features with sensational headlines like "Who Cheats Most in Marriage?," a survey comparing the unfaithfulness of various nationalities of men.
In 1935, John Neville Wheeler
John Neville Wheeler
John Neville "Jack" Wheeler was an American newspaperman, publishing executive, magazine editor, and author. He was born in Yonkers, New York, graduated Columbia University , was a veteran of World War I serving in France as a field artillery lieutenant, began his newspaper career at the New York...
, head of the North American Newspaper Alliance
North American Newspaper Alliance
The North American Newspaper Alliance was a large newspaper syndicate that flourished between 1922 and 1980.Founded by John Neville Wheeler, NANA employed some of the most noted writing talents of its time, including Grantland Rice, Joseph Alsop, Michael Stern, Lothrop Stoddard, Dorothy Thompson,...
which was becoming the pre-eminent press service, recruited her to write NANA's syndicated Hollywood column. She describes having "landed in the film capital on two left feet," and needing to temper her brash outspokenness with film industry sensibilities. She also relates
in her autobiographical book, A College of One, the dichotomy between dealing with "notoriously ignorant" moviemakers and the discomfort she felt over her own limited education and background in the company of her colleagues in journalism, and screenwriters, mentioning Robert Benchley
Robert Benchley
Robert Charles Benchley was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor...
, Marc Connelly
Marc Connelly
Marcus Cook Connelly was an American playwright, director, producer, performer, and lyricist. He was a key member of the Algonquin Round Table, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1930.-Biography:...
, Dorothy Parker
Dorothy Parker
Dorothy Parker was an American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist, best known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th century urban foibles....
, and, of course, F. Scott Fitzgerald, with whom she would soon become an intimate long time companion.
The Hollywood Years and Fitzgerald
Although marked by an inauspicious start, Graham quickly rose to fame through her column, "Hollywood Today," which she would write daily for over 35 years, interrupted only by serving as a war correspondent during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The column would reach a peak of being carried in 178 papers in 1966, as compared to 100 papers for rival Louella Parsons
Louella Parsons
Louella Parsons was the first American news-writer movie columnist in the United States. She was a gossip columnist who, for many years, was an influential arbiter of Hollywood mores, often feared and hated by the individuals, mostly actors, whose careers she could negatively impact via her...
and 68 for Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper was an American actress and gossip columnist, whose long-running feud with friend turned arch-rival Louella Parsons became at least as notorious as many of Hopper's columns.-Early life:...
.
She divorced from John Gillam in June 1937, to become engaged to the Marquess of Donegall
Dermot Chichester, 7th Marquess of Donegall
Dermot Richard Claud Chichester, 7th Marquess of Donegall LVO was an Irish soldier, landowner and member of the House of Lords....
. A month later, she was to meet F. Scott Fitzgerald, with whom she relates having immediately fallen in love, and the engagement was broken soon thereafter. Ruthe Stein quotes her as saying, "I'll only be remembered, if I'm remembered at all, because of Scott Fitzgerald."
They shared a home, were constant companions, and Fitzgerald was still married to his wife, Zelda, who was institutionalized in an asylum. Nonetheless, Graham protested her description as his "mistress" in her book, The Rest of the Story, on the basis that she was "a woman who loved Scott Fitzgerald for better or worse until he died." It was, in fact, she who found his body in their living room, where he died of a heart attack in 1940. They had been together only 3-1/2 years, but her daughter reports that Graham "never really got over him." During those three years, Scott outlined a "curriculum" for her, and guided her through it, which she later wrote about in detail in A College of One.
Upon Fitzgerald's death, seeking a respite from the social demands and frantic pace of covering "the film capital of the world," Graham arranged for an assignment as a foreign correspondent in NANA's London bureau. This also afforded her the opportunity to demonstrate her abilities as a serious journalist. Her first major story from England was an in-depth interview with George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
, and she would later file another with Britain's war prime minister, Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
. Her brief respite from Hollywood would stretch to the conclusion of the war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
,
While in her native England, she met Trevor Cresswell Lawrence Westbrook, whose company manufactured Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
fighter planes for the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
. After her return to the United States in late 1941, they married. Graham's two children, Wendy and Robert
Robert Westbrook (Author)
Robert Westbrook Robert T. Westbrook was born to columnist Sheilah Graham Westbrook five years after the death of her lover F. Scott Fitzgerald. There is some question as to Robert’s biological father, who Graham claimed was Trevor Westbrook, a British businessman she divorced in 1946. However,...
were born during this marriage, which ended in divorce in 1946, and were given the Westbrook surname. Wendy, however, in her autobiographical book, One of the Family, writes of discovering as an adult that her father was, in fact, British philosopher, A. J. Ayer. Ayer also suggested that Robert’s biological father was most likely the Hollywood actor Robert Taylor
Robert Taylor
Robert Taylor, Rob or Bob Taylor may refer to:*Robert Taylor , British general of the late eighteenth century*Robert Taylor , American computer scientist...
.
In August, 1947, Graham was naturalized
Naturalization
Naturalization is the acquisition of citizenship and nationality by somebody who was not a citizen of that country at the time of birth....
as a United States citizen, and in February 1953, married her third husband, Stanley Wojtkiewicz, whom she was later to describe as a man "of Polish ancestry with an unpronounceable name." They were divorced after about two years of marriage.
Neither her foray into the world of foreign correspondence, nor even motherhood prevented Graham from achieving her ambition to reach the top in her career. She demanded a salary of $5,000 a week to resume her column, an amount comparable to that of the stars she was covering. In addition, she was a regular contributor to Photoplay
Photoplay
Photoplay was one of the first American film fan magazines. It was founded in 1911 in Chicago, the same year that J. Stuart Blackton founded a similar magazine entitled Motion Picture Story...
and had own radio program, moving to television in 1951, where she delivered commentary and celebrity interviews, a forerunner to the talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
. From 1952-1953, Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, read widely within the entertainment industry, carried a separate gossip column by Graham, which differed in content, style, and attention to precise accuracy from that which she wrote for the general public.
In April 1969 Graham changed the name and format of her syndicated column, citing waning public interest in Hollywood gossip. Retitled, "Hollywood Everywhere," the scope was broadened to include celebrities and public figures outside of the entertainment world, and would include more diverse commentary.
Later years and death
In 1971, Graham wrote her last syndicated column, and moved to Palm Beach, FloridaPalm Beach, Florida
The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...
, where she continued for several years to make celebrity guest appearances on television and wrote on a freelance basis for magazines, and authored no fewer than nine more books.
Graham died on November 17, 1988 in Palm Beach of congestive heart failure at the age of 84.
Books
- Two early novels, unknown titles, published in England before 1935.
- Beloved Infidel: The Education of a Woman (1958, with Gerold Frank)
- Rest of the Story: The Odyssey of a Modern Woman (1964)
- College of One: The Story of How F. Scott Fitzgerald Educated the Woman He Loved (1967)
- Confessions of a Hollywood Columnist (1969)
- The Garden of Allah (Crown, 1969)
- A State of Heat (1972, memoir)
- How to Marry Super Rich: Or, Love, Money and the Morning After (1974)
- For Richer, for Poorer (1975)
- The Real F.Scott Fitzgerald, Thirty-Five Years Later (1976)
- The Late Lily Shiel (1978)
- My Hollywood: A Celebration and a Lament (1984)
- Hollywood Revisited: A Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration (1985)
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1939 | That's Right - You're Wrong | Sheila Graham - Newspaper Columnist | Uncredited |
| 1950 | The Great Jewel Robber | Television Commentator | Uncredited |
| 1959 | Girls Town Girls Town Girls Town is a 1959 film produced by MGM, starring Mamie Van Doren, Mel Tormé and Ray Anthony; Paul Anka also appears in his first acting role. Van Doren stars as a juvenile delinquent who is sent to a girls school run by nuns, where she finds herself unable to help her sister... |
Sister Grace | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1958 | The Bob Cummings Show The Bob Cummings Show The Bob Cummings Show is an American sitcom starring Robert "Bob" Cummings which was produced from January 2, 1955 to September 15, 1959, and originally sponsored by R.J. Reynolds' Winston cigarettes... |
Sheliah Graham | 1 episode |
| 1959 | General Electric Theater General Electric Theater General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald W. Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.-Radio:... |
Aunt Cecilia | 1 episode |
External links
- Sheliah Graham Westbrook at NNDBNNDBThe Notable Names Database , produced by Soylent Communications, the same entity that produces Rotten, Daily Rotten, Dr. Sputnik's Society Pages and Penny Postcards, is an online database of biographical details of over 36,000 people of note...