# Harrison Carroll

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Harrison_Carroll
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Harrison_Carroll.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Carroll
> Source revision: 1352224770
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

**Harrison Carroll** (June 23, 1901 – August 2, 1972) was a Hollywood [gossip columnist](/source/Gossip_columnist) who worked at the *[Los Angeles Herald-Express](/source/Los_Angeles_Herald-Express),* and whom [John Wayne](/source/John_Wayne) credited with being not only a mentor to him but helping him come up with a moniker to replace his birth name Marion Morrison.[citation needed] He was born in [Waco, Texas](/source/Waco,_Texas) at the turn of the twentieth century. After graduating from Waco High School, Carroll attended the [Rice Institute](/source/Rice_Institute) before moving on to [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University), where he took his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1922. That same year, he moved to [Los Angeles, California](/source/Los_Angeles,_California) and began working as a reporter for the *[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)* for $25 a week.[citation needed]

In 1925, he was hired as the drama editor of the *Los Angeles Evening Herald* (an afternoon newspaper that was a precursor to the *Herald-Examiner* and the merged *Herald-Express* that continued to employ him until he retired). The following year, he created his gossip column.[1] He eventually had a feature called "Today's Puzzle" that gave clues to a star, never mentioning them by name. He tried not to hurt any of the stars he covered, which made him popular with the denizens of Hollywood.[citation needed]

He covered the film industry for 43 years, writing his last column in 1969, after which he retired.[1] His column was syndicated by the Central Press Association to 48 newspapers. He had feuds with the leading gossip columnists of the day, including [Hedda Hopper](/source/Hedda_Hopper), [Louella Parsons](/source/Louella_Parsons) and his fellow Herald columnist [Jimmy Starr](/source/Jimmy_Starr); all of them appeared as themselves in the 1947 crime movie *[The Corpse Came C.O.D.](/source/The_Corpse_Came_C.O.D.)*.

Beginning in 1967 until he retired, Carroll's main place of business was the private, members-only Beverly Hills [discotheque](/source/Discotheque)-*cum*-restaurant Daisy, a hang-out for the younger, hipper stars like [Paul Newman](/source/Paul_Newman) when he was in L.A.[2] He created the Harrison Carroll Cinema Reporting Prize in 1971, the year before he died.[citation needed] John Wayne was the chairman of the foundation that awarded the prize.[1] In addition to Wayne, Carroll was close to [Clara Bow](/source/Clara_Bow) and [Clark Gable](/source/Clark_Gable). Reportedly, 1,000 subscribers cancelled their subscriptions to the *Herald* after he retired.[1]

He was married twice, to Corrinne Carroll, by whom he had a son and whom he divorced, and to Maria Carroll, whom he lived with for 47 years.

[Army Archerd](/source/Army_Archerd), who would establish himself as a famous entertainment industry gossip columnist, worked as a "leg man" for Carroll.[citation needed]

## References

1. ["People - Harrison Carroll"](http://www.smart90.com/people/harrisoncarroll.htm). Smart 90.com - TVI Magazine. Retrieved 24 September 2013.

1. Levy, Shawn (2009). [*Paul Newman: A Life*](https://archive.org/details/paulnewmanlife00levy/page/206). New York: Crown Archetype. p. [206](https://archive.org/details/paulnewmanlife00levy/page/206). ISBN 978-0307353757.

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Harrison Carroll](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Carroll) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Carroll?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.