Walter Winchell

Walter Winchell (April 7 1897 – February 20, 1972), an American newspaper and radio commentator, invented the gossip column at the New York Evening Graphic. He broke the journalistic taboo against exposing the private lives of public figures, permanently altering the shape of journalism and celebrity.

Style

Winchell's success wasn't due entirely to the salaciousness of the celebrity secrets he revealed. After all, many other columnists, such as Ed Sullivan in New York and Louella Parsons in Los Angeles, began to write gossip soon after Winchell's initial success. But Winchell had a style that others found impossible to mimic. He disdained the flowerly language that had characterized newspaper columns in the past. Instead, he wrote in a kind of telegraph style filled with slang and incomplete sentences. Creating his own shorthand language, Winchell was responsible for introducing into the American vernacular such now-familiar words and phrases as "scram," "pushover," and "belly laughs." He wrote many quips such as "Nothing recedes like success," and "I usually get my stuff from people who promised somebody else that they would keep it a secret."

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Winchell began his radio broadcasts by pressing randomly on a telegraph key, a sound which created a sense of urgency and importance. He then opened with the catch phrase "Good evening Mr. and Mrs. North America and all the ships at sea. Let's go to press." He would then read each of his stories in a staccato delivery at 197 words per minute.

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Winchell became a celebrity himself, often appearing as himself in movies. He hung out at Sherman Billingsley's Stork Club during the 1940s, and always sat at table 50 in the Club Room. There was a Winchellburger on the menu.

Related Topics:
Sherman Billingsley - Stork Club

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A less endearing aspect of his style were his attempts, especially after World War II, to ruin the careers of personal or political enemies. Winchell often had no credible sources for his accusations. He had no real incentive to be accurate because for most of his career his contract with his newspaper and radio employers required them to reimburse him for any damages he had to pay, should he be sued for slander. By the mid-1950s he was widely seen as arrogant, cruel, and ruthless. The changes in Winchell's public image over time can be seen by comparing the two fictional movie gossip columnists who were based on Winchell. In Okay, America (1932) the columnist, played by Lew Ayres, is a hero. In Sweet Smell of Success (1957), the columnist, played by Burt Lancaster, is obnoxious and mentally ill. The character also has an unhealthy fondness for his sister. This is an allusion to an incident in which Winchell broke up his daughter Walda's impending marriage.

Related Topics:
Okay, America - Lew Ayres - Sweet Smell of Success - Burt Lancaster

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