Sheilah Graham

Sheilah Graham (born Lily Shiel; 15 September 1904 – 17 November 1988) was a British-born, internationally syndicated American gossip columnist during Hollywood's "Golden Age". In her youth, she had been a showgirl and a freelance writer for Fleet Street in London. These early experiences would converge in her career in Hollywood, which spanned nearly four decades, as a successful columnist and author. a bestseller that was made into a 1959 film starring Gregory Peck and Deborah Kerr.

Early life Graham was born Lily Shiel in Leeds, England, the youngest of Rebecca (Blashman) and Louis Shiel's eight children (two of whom died). Her parents were Ukrainian Jews. Her father, a tailor who had fled the pogroms, died of tuberculosis on a trip to Berlin while his daughter was still an infant. Her mother and the children moved to a basement flat in a Stepney Green slum in the East End of London. Rebecca, who spoke little English, struggled to provide for her family by cleaning public lavatories and was forced by these circumstances to place Lily in the Jews Hospital and Orphanage.

In Recollections of Sheilah Graham, Sheilah's daughter, Wendy Fairey, wrote: "Entering this institution at age six, my mother had her golden hair shaved to the scalp as a precaution against lice. To the end of her life, she was haunted by the degradation of this experience. Eight years later when she 'graduated,' she had established herself as Norwood's 'Head Girl': captain of the cricket team and recipient of many prizes, including both the Hebrew prize and a prize for reciting a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning".

Graham, then still known as Lily, had been trained for a career in teaching. When she left the orphanage, her mother was dying of cancer, and Graham returned home to care for her. published author, and eyewitness to the Gallipoli campaign of 1915–1916. Sheilah’s daughter describes Gillam as "a kindly older man who proved impotent, went bankrupt, and looked the other way when she went out with other men." It was during her time in the British musical theater that Graham began to write professionally, anecdotally receiving two guineas (£2.10) from the Daily Express for an article entitled "The Stage Door Johnnies, by a Chorus Girl," which she wrote in response to a challenge by her husband. While still in Britain, she attained some success as a freelance writer and published two novels, both of which sold poorly.

She divorced John Gillam in June 1937 (but she supported him until the end of his life

They shared a home and were constant companions while Fitzgerald was still married to his wife Zelda, who was institutionalized in an asylum. Although Graham kept her Jewish background a secret from most, she did reveal it to Fitzgerald, perhaps in part to confront his possible antisemitism at the time of Nazi power in Germany. (W.S.) Wojtkiewicz, , a boys camp athletic director, known in Hollywood circles as "Bow Wow". In her autobiography, Graham dismissed Wojtkiewicz as "that nut whose name you can't pronounce". He would later gain infamy for mounting Chill Wills's notorious Oscar campaign

Neither her foreign correspondence nor motherhood prevented Graham from achieving her ambitions. She demanded $5,000 per week to resume her column, an amount comparable to that of the stars she was covering.

Later years and death

In 1957, Graham guest-starred as herself in "Academy Award," an episode of the CBS situation comedy Mr. Adams and Eve.

In April 1969, Graham changed the name and format of her syndicated column, citing waning public interest in Hollywood gossip. Retitled "Hollywood Everywhere," the scope included celebrities, public figures, and diverse commentary.

Graham died on 17 November 1988, at the Good Samaritan Hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida, of congestive heart failure at the age of 84. Rest of the Story: The Odyssey of a Modern Woman (1964) College of One: The Story of How F. Scott Fitzgerald Educated the Woman He Loved (1967) Confessions of a Hollywood Columnist (1969) Garden of Allah (1969) Scratch an Actor (1970) A State of Heat (1972, memoir) How to Marry Super Rich: Or, Love, Money and the Morning After (1974) For Richer, for Poorer (1975) The Real F. Scott Fitzgerald, Thirty-Five Years Later (1976) The Late Lily Shiel (1978) My Hollywood: A Celebration and a Lament (1984) Hollywood Revisited: A Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration (1985)

Filmography Film Year Film Role Notes 1939 That's Right – You're Wrong Sheilah Graham – Newspaper Columnist Uncredited 1947 Jiggs and Maggie in Society Herself 1949 Impact Herself 1950 The Great Jewel Robber Television Commentator Uncredited 1959 Girls Town Sister Grace 1960 College Confidential Reporter (final film role) Television Year Title Role Notes 1958 The Bob Cummings Show Sheilah Graham 1 episode 1959 General Electric Theater Aunt Cecilia 1 episode