HARRISON CARROLL
Receives Award
-by Dorothy
Manners
01h
•
Photos:
Speaking of old friends,
Army Archerd and Harrison Carroll were very much on
hand for the press party hosted by John Wayne at
the Marquis Restaurant. Occasion of the
get-together was the presentation of the Harrison
Carroll Cinema Press Prize -- which didn't seem as
important as all the old friends milling around and
telling one another how great everybody looks.
Julian Myers, who started at 20th Century Fox in
1948, recalls Archerd's pre-Variety stint as "leg
man" for Los Angeles Herald-Express columnist
Harrison Carroll.
Attending but not in photo
is Army
Archerd. As Harrison stated to Troy, "Army likes to
write about the scene but not 'be in the scene.'
" Photo:
Harrison Carroll Cinema Reporting Prize - 1971;
John Wayne, Harrison Carroll, Priscilla Cory, Terry
Moore, Troy Cory, at the Marquis in Hollywood -
1971.
•
Feature
Story
/ Army
Archerd, a "Variety
Legend."1922
-
2009.
•
•
. . .
Army was was a gossip
columnist for Variety for over
fifty years before retiring his
"Just for Variety" column in
September 2005.
•
•
In
November 2005 Archerd began
blogging for Variety and was at
work on a memoir. In 1984, he was
given a star on the Hollywood's
Walk of Fame, in front of Mann's
Chinese Theater, where he has
emceed dozens of movie premieres.
•
•
•
Armand
"Army" Archerd was born in Bronx,
New York State and graduated from
UCLA in 1941. He was hired by
Variety to replace columnist
Sheilah Graham (former girlfriend
of F. Scott Fitzgerald) in 1953.
His Just for Variety column
appeared on page two of Daily
Variety and swiftly became
popular in Hollywood. Archerd
broke countless exclusive
stories, reporting from film
sets, announcing pending deals,
giving news of who's in the
hospital, who's just been
married, and who's given
birth.
•
•
One of his
most significant scoops was in
his July 23, 1985 column, when he
printed that Rock Hudson --
despite denials from the actor's
publicists and managers -- was
undergoing treatment for
AIDS.
•
•
The New
York Times stated that if not for
Archerd's report, the actor's
death probably would have been
attributed to other maladies, and
the realization of the scope of
AIDS would not have been
publicized and realized until the
fall.
•
•
Archerd, a
Jewish American, was also a
strong proponent of the Simon
Wiesenthal Center and Holocaust
awareness. He was married to
actress Selma Archerd, and they
lived in Westwood, California,
prior to his passing on September
8, 2009, at the Ronald Reagan
UCLA Medical Center in Los
Angeles.
Part
02hTIMELINE
/Army
Archerd, Gossip Columnist for
Variety
•
1922
-
Armand
"Army" Archerd was born on June
23, 1901, Bronz, New York
State. •
1937
-
Studied
at Townsend Harris High School,
Queens, NY. •
1940
-
Armand
'Army' Archerd worked for the
Associated Press in the 1940s
covering the movie beat, and
later worked as an assistant to
Harrison Carroll, gossip
columnist at the L.A.
Herald-Examiner. •
1941
-
Gratuated
from University of California,
Los Angeles, (UCLA). •
1943
-
Military
service in the US Navy
(1943-45). •
1943
- US Naval Academy, Annapolis
postgraduate school. •
1948
-
Julian
Myers, who started at 20th
Century Fox in 1948, recalls
Archerd's pre-Variety stint as
"leg man" for Los Angeles
Herald-Express columnist Harrison
Carroll. "Army was the consummate
interviewer," Myers says, "a
handsome young man, very
accessible.
"Army came
out to Fox every Friday. I was
assigned to take him to all the
shooting stages. The actors
looked forward to Army's visits
because they would read in
Carroll's column something
interesting and honest about
them." •
1953
-
Army
was hired by Variety, the
Hollywood trade paper
to replace
columnist Sheilah Graham (former
girlfriend of F. Scott
Fitzgerald).
His
Just for Variety column appeard
on page two of Daily Variety and
became instantly popular in
Hollywood.
He wrote
more than 10,000 columns for Page
2 of Variety until his retirement
in
2005. •
1961
- Received Journalistic Merit
Award at the Golden Globe
Awards. •
1969
- Married actress Selma
Archerd on November 15th. •
1971
- In attendance at the
Marquis on Sunset, Hollywood, to
honor forner Herald Express
columnist, Harrison Carroll. John
Wayne hosted the event to launch
the
Harrison
Carroll Cinema Reporting Prize of
which he was chairman. Also
present were Brayden Linden, Troy
Cory, Gerd Oswald and Terry
Moore.
•
1975
-
In
1975, the FBI funnelled false
information to Archerd,
suggesting that left-leaning
actress Jane Fonda had threatened
President Nixon's life. Archerd,
though, wasn't fooled, and the
next issue of Variety carried the
shocking banner headline, "FBI
Jane Fonda lie fizzles." •
1981
-
In
1981, to sell the new concept of
a nightly Hollywood newscast,
Archerd was brought in as
anchorman for the pilot episode
of Entertainment Tonight. When
the show was sold and went into
production, though, he declined
the job, and remained with
Variety. •
1984
-
He
was given a star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame, in front
of Mann's
Chinese Theater, where he has
emceed dozens of movie
premieres. •
1985
-
Printed in his column on July 23,
that Rock Hudson -- despite
denials from the actor's
publicists and managers -- was
undergoing treatment for
AIDS. •
1990
- Producerd the Annual
eople's Choice Awards. •
2003
- Coordinating Producer of
the Annual People's Choice
Awards. •
2005
-
Retired
from Variety as column
writer. •
2005
-
Began
Blogging for Variety in November
and is currently working on a
memoir. •
2005
- Died September 8, 2009,
in Los
Angeles, California.
Army
the Actor •
1963
-
Played a
writer in the film "Under the Yum
Yum Tree." •
1963
-
Played
onlooker in the film "A New Kind
of Love." •
1964
-
Played
TV announcer in the film "What a
Way to Go!" Starring Shirely
MacLaine, Paul Newman, Robert
Mitchum, Dean Martin. •
1968
-
"Wild
in the Streets" - played
himself. •
1968
- "The
Young Runaways"
-
played
himself. •
1971
-
Played
a Referee in the film "Escape
from the Planet of the Apes,"
starring Roddy McDowall, Kim
Hunter. •
1973
-
Played
the butler in the film "The
Outfit." •
1976
-
"Won
Ton Ton, The Dog Who Saved
Hollywood" - played himself and
emceed premiere of the film. •
1978
-
Played
himself in "California Suite,"
starring Alan Alda, Michael
Caine, Bill Cosby, Jane Fonda.
Walther Matthau. •
1978
- "The
Users"
- played
himself. •
1978
-
"More
Than Friends"
-
played himself. •
1981
-
"Happy
Hooker Goes To Hollywood"
-
played
himself. •
1981
-
Played
himself in the film "The Devil
and Max Devlin Himself," starring
Elliott Gould, Bill Cosby, Susan
Anspach. •
1984
-
"Ratings
Game"
-
played
himself. •
1986
-
Played
a television host in "Hyper
Sapien: People From Another
Star." •
1990
-
Played
himself in the
film
"Repossessed," starring Linda
Blair, Leslie Nielsen, Anthony
Starke. •
1998
-
"Off
The Menu: The Last Days of
Chasen's." •
2000
-
"The
Best Actress" - played
himself.
3.
Editor's Note /
Army
Archerd the "leg man". . .
•
•
Julian Myers, who started
at 20th Century Fox in 1948,
recalls Archerd's pre-Variety
stint as "leg man" for Los
Angeles Herald-Express columnist
Harrison Carroll. "Army was the
consummate interviewer," Myers
says, "a handsome young man, very
accessible.
•
•
"Army came out to Fox
every Friday. I was assigned to
take him to all the shooting
stages. The actors looked forward
to Army's visits because they
would read in Carroll's column
something interesting and honest
about them."
•
•
Aug. 31, 2005 / Veteran
"Tonight Show" publicist Charlie
Barrett remembers when press-shy
Johnny Carson was about to
celebrate his 25th anniversary on
NBC in 1987. Carson left a
message: "I'm not doing any
interviews, because if I do one,
I'll have to do them all. But if
Army calls, I'll speak to him."
•
•
That sums up Army
Archerd's clout in the biz rather
nicely. Longtime publicists --
most of whom were once known as
"press agents" -- are unanimous
in their praise for the Daily
Variety columnist.
. . .
JUST
FOR VARIETY By Army Archerd .
. . July 6,
1971 John Wayne on hand at the
Marquis to help launch the
Harrison Carroll Cinema
Reporting Prize Foundation of
which he's chairman. "I've neer
known him to double-cross anyone
on either side of the camera,"
said Wayne of the former
columnist. "I'm really happy to
be here to help honor this
wonderful guy: . . .
Prizes toalling $10,000
annually for showbiz reporting is
plotted by the foundation,
announced president Brayden
Linand and Troy Cory,
coordinator, Vice President Gerd
Oswald also on hand, Terry Moore,
("Bunny O'Hare"). among Carroll
longtime pals.
Armand
'Army'
Archerd
worked for the Associated Press
in the 1940s covering the movie
beat, and later worked as an
assistant to Harrison Carroll,
gossip columnist at the L.A.
Herald-Examiner. In 1953, Archerd
landed his dream job as the
gossip columnist at Daily
Variety, the Hollywood trade
paper. He wrote more than 10,000
columns for Page 2 of Variety
until his retirement in
2005.
•
•
For many Hollywood publicists,
the key to a movie's success or a
starlet's salary increase was a
discreetly placed item in
Archerd's column. Archerd was
accomodating, but he also thought
of himself as a reporter, so he
doublechecked his facts and
rarely got the story wrong. As
perhaps a quiet quid pro quo,
•
•
Archerd accumulated decades of
cameos and walk-on appearances in
movies and TV shows that featured
Hollywood themes or red carpet
interviews. His wife also amassed
a similar résumé of
bit parts.
•
•
In 1975, the FBI funnelled false
information to Archerd,
suggesting that left-leaning
actress Jane Fonda had threatened
President Nixon's life. Archerd,
though, wasn't fooled, and the
next issue of Variety carried the
shocking banner headline, "FBI
Jane Fonda lie fizzles."
•
•
In 1985, it was Archerd who broke
the story that Rock Hudson was
being treated for AIDS -- despite
denials and rumored threats from
Hudson's agent, manager, and
publicist.
•
•
Archerd is said to have invented
the pre-Oscar "red carpet
interview", and for many years he
manned a podium midway down the
red carpet at every Oscars
ceremony, facing the fans in the
grandstands and rapid-fire
interviewing the stars as they
walked toward the door. Even
after his retirement, that spot
on the walkway is referred to as
"the Army Archerd
position."
•
•
In 1981, to sell the new concept
of a nightly Hollywood newscast,
Archerd was brought in as
anchorman for the pilot episode
of Entertainment Tonight. When
the show was sold and went into
production, though, he declined
the job, and remained with
Variety.
•04
ByLines:
TVI
Bylines /
Related
Stories •
Army's
Last
Column
Good mornings By ARMY ARCHERD, Wed.,
Aug. 31, 2005, 9:00pm PT
In Archerd's column, which ends
today, he encountered legendary
entertainment artists, stars and
moguls. Here's a choice sampling:
1953 - 2005.
••
52
years in that three-dot daily
slot
By Pete Hammond Aug. 31, 2005.
"He's
been at it a long time with a
long history and he still has no
enemies. Now that's an
achievement in
Hollywood!" When the Associated
Press decided to ramp up its
showbiz coverage at the end of
World War II, Hollywood
correspondent Bob Thomas met his
new partner, a guy just out of
the Navy known to his friends
simply as
"Army."
•
•
"He came in dressed very
smartly, a very handsome fellow,"
recalls
Thomas.
•
•
"I was struck very
quickly with his friendliness and
his eagerness to do this. Before
the war he had been in the mail
department at Paramount and that
was his only experience in
Hollywood."
•
•
For the next three years,
until Archerd left for the
Hollywood Express and eventually
Variety, the pair would share a
desk in the old Citizen News
building on Wilcox Avenue with
two phones, two typewriters and
collaborate on six columns a week
that were about all things
entertainment. Thomas combined
their items and sent the finished
product via messenger every day
to the AP. He was even the one
who gave the cub reporter his
famous
moniker.
•
•
"I had my byline on the
column and during my two-week
vacation he had his byline on it,
which was Armand A. Archerd. The
'A' was to be in quotes because
it stood for nothing, like Harry
S. Truman. So finally I said as
long as everyone calls you Army,
better just make it Army
Archerd."
•
•
According to Thomas, Army
made a real impression on the
town -- several female stars came
on to him. At one point, actor
Lew Ayres suggested Army might be
a potential film star and a
screen test was held, but nothing
came of it. In his heart, Army
was an entertainment reporter and
he always got his story -- even
when it wasn't
easy.
•
•
"Once he was assigned to
go to Pickfair to interview Mary
Pickford," Thomas remembers. "As
we all did in those days. he had
to wait about 30 minutes. But
eventually Buddy Rogers marched
Army up to see her where he had
his interview and then left. But
as he was walking down the
driveway he looked at his notes
and he had to laugh. Nothing she
said made any sense. She was dead
drunk!"
•
•
Thomas, who has been with
the AP for 62 years and written
over 30 books including 16
biographies, has a simple theory
as to why Army succeeded in such
a remarkable way in the
treacherous waters of
Hollywood.
•
•
"I think it's devotion to
the job. He always quotes people
and he never traffics in gossip
or runs blind items like a lot of
writers do. He has a fabulous
Rolodex with numbers from
virtually every person who might
be newsworthy. Everyone felt they
had to read Army first thing
every day where they would always
find his cheery 'Good
Morning."
•
•
"He's been at it a long
time with a long history and he
still has no enemies. Now that's
an achievement in
Hollywood!'"
•
An
Army of
supporters
. . ."He is a mensch, and that
covers all
bases."
By Jon Burlingame Aug. 31,
2005
Veteran "Tonight Show" publicist
Charlie Barrett remembers when
press-shy Johnny Carson was about
to celebrate his 25th anniversary
on NBC in 1987. Carson left a
message: "I'm not doing any
interviews, because if I do one,
I'll have to do them all. But if
Army calls, I'll speak to
him."
•
•
That sums up Army
Archerd's clout in the biz rather
nicely. Longtime publicists --
most of whom were once known as
"press agents" -- are unanimous
in their praise for the Daily
Variety
columnist.
•
•
Warren Cowan has known
Archerd since they were kids
together in New York. They
attended high school together,
and were at UCLA at the same
time. "He disproved Leo
Durocher," says Cowan. "Army
proved that nice guys can finish
first."
•
•
Cowan recalls attending
parties at Archerd's home where
Gregory Peck, Jack Lemmon, Kirk
Douglas and Elizabeth Taylor
would be hanging around the pool
-- and another occasion when
Danny Kaye "cooked a special
Chinese dinner" for Army and his
wife
Selma.
•
•
"Army is the one person
whom everyone I've worked with
takes his call," he says. Archerd
also may have added to the
paper's bottom line, Cowan
suggests, because readers often
subscribed just to read "Just for
Variety."
•
•
Dale Olson worked
alongside Archerd in the early
1960s, when he was a Variety
reporter with a desk "right in
front of Army. Army was God. An
item in Army's column was more
important than a full-fledged
story, because the first thing
that everybody of any substance
in this business does in the
morning is read Army
Archerd."
•
•
Olson was Rock Hudson's
spokesman and concedes that, in
1985, he had initially "tried to
hide" the story of Hudson's fatal
illness. But Archerd learned of
Hudson's hospitalization for AIDS
and, says Olson, "wrote one of
the most carefully written pieces
I have ever
seen.
•
•
"That's one of the secrets
of Army's success. He would do a
story, even if it was a difficult
personal story, and not write it
like gossip. The message was
there, but it was gentle. His
column will really be missed.
There is no way to replace Army
Archerd."
•
•
Julian Myers, who started
at 20th Century Fox in 1948,
recalls Archerd's pre-Variety
stint as "leg man" for Los
Angeles Herald-Express columnist
Harrison Carroll. "Army was the
consummate interviewer," Myers
says, "a handsome young man, very
accessible.
•
•
"Army came out to Fox
every Friday. I was assigned to
take him to all the shooting
stages. The actors looked forward
to Army's visits because they
would read in Carroll's column
something interesting and honest
about
them."
•
•
Discussing Archerd's
impact on the biz, Myers adds:
"This world is shaped to a degree
by the movies and TV that we see.
The people that create those are
more apt to read Army's column
than anything else that they
could read or
see."
•
•
Henri Bollinger remembers
handling early TV genius Ernie
Kovacs and helping to promote a
series of half-hour specials that
aired on ABC in 1961. Kovacs, who
once wrote a newspaper column in
Trenton, N.J., wanted to give
Hollywood the impression that
these were important shows, and
scheduled screenings for the
press.
•
•
"The key to it all,"
Bollinger says Kovacs told him,
"is you've got to get the notice
of this into Army's column. He
did, and it ran, and it worked
like
magic."
•
•
Similarly, when Bollinger
handled David Niven's Oscar
campaign for 1958's "Separate
Tables," Niven insisted that a
spot in Archerd's column was
vital. Niven, of course,
won.
•
•
"These were major talents
in the industry who recognized
that the way to reach all these
people was through Army's column.
I have never forgotten that.
Army, to this day, is key to
every campaign that I do," says
Bollinger.
•
•
Lee Solters -- whose
client list has encompassed such
legends as Frank Sinatra, Barbra
Streisand, Pat Boone, Michael
Jackson, Ringling Brothers and
David Merrick -- says he
"wouldn't deny" that there have
been times over the decades when
he planted items in other columns
that weren't true. "But not with
Army," he says, "because I had
tremendous respect for his
column.
•
•
"He is extremely
knowledgeable. If I plant
something that is not true, he
knows. He is a first-class
reporter. Before I give him
anything, I ask myself all the
questions that (I think) he would
ask me; lo and behold, he will
ask me other questions that I
forget to ask myself. He wants
facts, facts, facts. The
truth.
•
•
"He is a mensch, and that
covers all bases."
Several years ago, the morning
after I attended the L.A. Press
Club's presentation of the Joseph
M. Quinn Memorial Award for
Journalistic Achievement to Army
Archerd, I saw Army in the
Variety
newsroom.
•
•
No big deal. Just another
day of my seven years in the L.A.
office, or around 1/8th the
number of years Army has been
filing his column, "Just for
Variety," which ends
today.
•
•
"Army," I said
worshipfully, because I am always
worshipful around genuine
Hollywood icons, "last night you
talked about covering Hollywood
in the late 1940s, just after you
got out of the Service. You were
on the 'Supper Club' beat. It
sounded
amazing."
•
•
"Steve," said Army
seriously, because Army takes
every question, fact, quote,
scoop, deadline (well, not every
one), phone number, medical
report, film launch, marriage
crash, newborn babe and departing
soul real damn seriously, "you
have no
idea."
•
•
He was right, of
course.
•
•
And I'm willing to guess
that 90% of the folks reading
this newspaper today have no
idea.
•
•
Without a time machine to
zap us back to Chasen's or
Ciro's, the Copa, Perrino's, the
Mocambo or the studios when
Giants walked the soundstages, or
the patios, lounges, pool decks,
rumpus rooms and banquet halls of
the kings, queens, clown princes
and royal scoundrels who ruled
the Dream Factory roost, how
could
we?
•
•
Since there's no sign that
G.M. has plans to start
manufacturing H.G. Wells' famous
vehicle, we've assembled a small,
but choice, selection from Army's
52 years of daily encounters on
the showbiz beat. Just take a
stroll through a few of Army's
most fascinating toe-to-toes with
the Hollywood pros and I think
you might just start to get the
idea.
Part
05h
- Editors
Notes •
Reviews
/
Editorial Chart • Editorial
Calendar / Events Calendar /
NBS100
TeleComunication Study -
Regulatory Frequency
Seizure
. . .
JUST
FOR VARIETY By Army Archerd .
. . July 6,
1971
