Jimmie Fidler began his Hollywood career as an extra in silent films.
But when speaking roles did not seem likely he turned to publicity and
later parlayed his connections into a career as a gossip columnist
He spent about 14 years working as a free-lance press agent, setting up
an office at Sunset and Cahuenga boulevards and established a roster
actors who paid his salary ranging from from $10 a week to $150 a week.
His first job came from Edmund Lowe, who offered him offered him $25 a
week. Fidler later signed on with Cecil B. DeMille at Famous
Players-Lasky to write press releases..
He eventually moved his offices to Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street
and set up his operation like a newsroom, which included "city desk,"
four reporters and nine studio contacts to feed him information.
In 1931, he married Dorothy Lee, but they divorced less than a year
later. Fidler closed his offices, and in 1934 became a press agent for
a Los Angeles radio station. Josephine Dillon, the first wife of Clark
Gable, worked at the station and urged Fidler to use his knowledge of
the film industry to become a gossip commentator for local radio.
Fidler partnered with singer and sometime actor Russ Columbo on early
programs, but Columbo died before their shows gained widespread
attention.
His audience grew rapidly 1936 and 1940. He syndicated his "Jimmie
Fidler's Hollywood" column, which appeared in 150 newspapers.
His signature sign-off after each radio broadcast was "Good night to
you, and you, and I do mean you!" He also established a four-bell
rating system with four bells as a superb movie to one bell for a
box-office bomb.
To set himself apart from other gossip columnists he wrote and
broadcast "open letters" to film stars, often scolding them for
perceived bad behavior.
He lectured Alice Faye for her failure to show up at promotional events
in Pittsburgh and George Brent toying with Ann Sheridan in their
relationship. He even ordered Martha Raye to stay out of nightclubs.
His acid tongue soon alienated movie stars and studio execs alike. In
1941 Fidler's relationship with the Hollywood elite was further
strained when he was called to testify before the U.S. Senate
Subcommittee Hearings on Motion Picture and Radio Propaganda.
The subcommittee was investigating whether films like "Confessions of a
Nazi Spy" (1939) and "Sergeant York" (1941) manipulated moviegoers with
anti-Nazi messages. Testifying as an expert witness, Fidler testified
that Hollywood produced "hate-breeding" movies that were anti-Nazi.
He also alleged that filmmakers attempted to bribe him to write
favorable reviews. Sensitive to charges of anti-Americanism, film
industry executives felt betrayed by Fidler.
When Fidler returned to Hollywood, actor Errol Flynn attacked Fidler at
the Macambo nightclub by punching him in the face. Flynn later
described Fidler to reporters as a "contemptible liar."
Yet Fidler remained popular with moviegoers. At his peak in 1950, he
broadcast on 486 radio stations and his gossip columns appeared in 360
newspapers.
Fidler died in Toluca Lake in 1988.
