Sidney Skolsky (May 2, 1905[citation needed] – May 3, 1983) was an American writer best known as a Hollywood gossip columnist. He ranked with Hedda Hopper (with whom he shared a birthday) and Louella Parsons as the premier Hollywood gossip columnists of the first three decades of the sound picture era.
Skolsky was a radio personality in addition to having his own syndicated newspaper column, he was a screenwriter and movie producer who occasionally acted in radio and films. Skolsky claimed to be the person who gave the nickname "Oscar" to the Academy Award[citation needed] and was credited for the introduction of the use of the word beefcake.[1]
Biography
Skolsky was born to a Jewish family,[2] the son of dry goods store proprietor Louis Skolsky and his wife Mildred in New York City. He studied journalism at New York University before becoming a Broadwaypress agent for the theatrical impresarios Earl Carroll, Sam Harris, and George White. When he became the New York Daily News gossip columnist in 1928, the 23-year-old Skolsky was the youngest Broadway gossip columnist plying his trade on the Great White Way. He also had a Sunday column, "Tintypes", profiles of actors, directors and other production personnel and Hollywood creative types, that continued in print for 52 years, until a couple years before his death.[citation needed]
While Skolsky might not have created the nickname "Oscar" for the Academy Award, he is the first person to use the nickname in print for Hollywood's premier award, in his 17 March 1934 column.[6] In 1946, he became a movie producer with The Jolson Story (1946), which was nominated for several Academy Awards. He followed it up with 1953 bio The Eddie Cantor Story. Starting in 1954, KABC-TV Los Angeles featured him in his own TV show, Sidney Skolsky’s Hollywood. He wrote five books about Hollywood and the movies, including a 1975 autobiography, Don’t Get Me Wrong, I Love Hollywood.[citation needed]
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