PIONEERING GOSSIP REPORTER
∗ Born April 7, 1897 in New York City; dropped out of school in sixth grade to help support his family by working odd jobs
∗ Got his start in Gus Edwards’ kiddie vaudeville troupe the Newsboy Sextette singing and dancing; after a Navy stint during World War I, teamed with Rita Greene, an ex-Vaudeville partner (and briefly, his wife) to tour the country; began typing a publicity sheet called Newsense and sending it to Vaudeville friends and Billboard magazine, which led to a correspondent job with the Vaudeville News in 1920
∗ Joined the New York Evening Graphic, a new sensationalist tabloid newspaper, in 1924, writing a column called “Your Broadway And Mine,” which revealed spicy details about show business personalities; while there, met his future life-long common law wife, June Magee; hired by the New York Daily Mirror in 1927 to write “On-Broadway,” the first syndicated gossip column; using his extensive contacts and connections, leaked often embarrassing information about famous people in entertainment, government and society circles
∗ Debuted on WABC radio in 1930 with a 15-minute show, “Saks On Broadway,” featuring Broadway business news; lured away in 1931 by the NBC Blue Network (later renamed ABC) to host “The Jergen’s Journal,” which mixed entertainment and national news; gained extensive fame for his coverage of the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh’s baby and the kidnapper’s trial; broke the news of President Franklin Roosevelt’s decision to seek a third term and was influential in convincing Americans to accept FDR’s unprecedented action; by 1948 was the top rated radio show in America
∗ Open his radio program with 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”; read each story with a fast paced, staccato delivery and clicking of a teletype machine that conveyed urgency and excitement; used his delivery to great effect as the unseen narrator of ABC-TV’s The Untouchables series from 1959 to 1963
∗ Mentioned in Cole Porter’s 1930 song “Let’s Fly Away” (“Let’s fly away, and find a country so provincial, we’ll never hear what Walter Winchell might be forced to say”); also mentioned in Richard Rodgers’ and Lorenz Hart’s 1937 song “The Lady Is A Tramp,” popularized by Frank Sinatra (“I follow Winchell and read every line”)
∗ Wielded tremendous power in making and breaking reputations; used his media platforms to promote people and causes he liked and to destroy personal and political enemies; used the promise of good press – or threat of retaliation – to extract information from sources; was a feared presence among celebrities and politicians from the 1920s to the early 1960s
∗ Credited with (or blamed for) inventing the gossip column; until him, the media generally refrained from using seamy details about the private lives of celebrities; at his peak, his column was carried by more than 2,000 newspapers and read by 50 million people and his radio show reached 20 million weekly; radio program was simulcast on ABC TV in the early 1950s but ended after a dispute with network executives
∗ Denounced Adolf Hitler and pro-Nazi US organizations long before other journalists; condemned isolationists and promoted American intervention in Europe before World War II; after the war, supported the US civil rights movement and denounced communism
∗ Supported Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s crusade against suspected communists; when the public turned against McCarthy, Winchell’s popularity began to fade; downward spiral continued in the late 1950s when television overtook radio and newspapers in popularity; hosted a variety show on NBC-TV but lasted only 13 weeks; popularity further damaged by a feud with TV’s Jack Paar — according to the 2008 PBS series Pioneers of Television, “No one had ever dared criticize Winchell … 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.”
∗ Began fading into obscurity; column appeared in less than 150 papers by 1960; lost his job in 1963 when his home newspaper, New York Daily Mirror, folded; Hearst corporation’s Journal-American absorbed the Mirror‘s features, including Winchell’s column, but that paper folded in 1965; continued writing for the Hearst syndicate, but without a New York City outlet; was despondent and left in 1967
∗ Bought a home in 1955 on Yucca Street in Scottsdale for his common-law wife June Magee, who had to move for her health; lived there himself after retirement; following her death in 1970, moved to Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles
∗ Died February 2, 1972; buried in Greenwood Memorial Lawn in Phoenix
∗ Inspired creation of the character of J.J. Hunsecker (portrayed by Burt Lancaster) in the 1957 film, The Sweet Smell of Success; inspired The Walter Winchell Files TV series (1957-1959) about crime stories he covered; inspired the TV movie, Winchell (HBO, 1998) starring Stanley Tucci
∗ Inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2004
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