May Mann

May Mann, born May Vasta Randall, (September 1, 1908 - April 15, 1995)

Biography May Mann was born to a prominent family in Ogden, Utah. As a child, she loved watching films and reading movie magazines. Her first newspaper publication was in 1934 in The Ogden Standard-Examiner. There she wrote as a society columnist. She met with Hollywood celebrities in Union Station in Ogden. The articles she wrote from these meetings were successful, and movie studios paid for her transportation to and from Hollywood in order for her to continue the good publicity. She started her column, "Going Hollywood," in 1936. Mann reported on what she considered to be an "inept probe" into her close friend, Marilyn Monroe's untimely death. She received a call from chief Parker about the article. Mann relayed, "He said it would be bad for my health if I kept writing stories like that."

She was a regular contributor to Photoplay 1972–1977. King Features, Faucett Publications and General Features syndicated her "Going Hollywood" column to 400 newspapers. Mann wrote for movie magazines starting in 1937, and her work appears in Movie Mirror, Silver Screen, Movie Teen, and Screenland. Sometimes she used a pen name, Frances Lane, because she claimed that the Associated Press told her she could only write in one A.P. paper. She described herself as liking everyone, even if they disliked her, and "never [said] an unkind word about anyone." Joan Crawford, Jayne Mansfield, and Mary Pickford. Mann also wrote extensively about The Osmonds. After Elvis's death, author and columnist Molly Ivins updated Elvis and the Colonel, renaming it The Private Elvis.

Mann was good friends with the actress Jayne Mansfield. Mann wrote her biography after reporting that Mansfield's spirit haunted her until she wrote the book.

Personal life Mann was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and abstained from smoking or drinking her whole life. Mann was married to David H. Mann, a writer and editor at the Ogden newspaper, for at least two and a half years before they were divorced in 1944. David Mann sued for divorce because of desertion. Mann married Al Leon, a former concert singer who was from San Francisco in 1945. Their wedding was held in Falcon Lair and covered by Louella Parsons. Fellow columnist Cobina Wright sent invitations and managed the wedding. Mann and Leon divorced in 1948. May married Buddy Baer in 1949, and a divorce was granted in 1956. In 2017, it was sold for an undisclosed price.

Works "A Date With Clark Gable", Screenland magazine, May 1937. Elvis and the Colonel, Drake Publishers, 1975. . Jayne Mansfield: A Biography, Drake Publishers, 1973. . My Friend Clark Marilyn Monroe (now thought to have been lost) Princess, Drake Publishers, 1976. Book about Mann's cat, who made appearances at charity events to help raise money.