Sheilah Graham

Sheilah Graham (born Lily Shiel; 15 September 1904 – 17 November 1988) was a British-born, nationally syndicated American gossip columnist during Hollywood's "Golden Age". Along with Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper, Graham came to wield sufficient power to make or break Hollywood careers—prompting her to describe herself as "the last of the unholy trio." Graham also was known for her relationship with F. Scott Fitzgerald, a relationship she played a significant role in immortalizing through the autobiographical Beloved Infidel, a bestseller that was made into a film. In her youth, she had been a showgirl and a freelance writer for Fleet Street in London and had published several short stories and two novels. These early experiences would converge in her career in Hollywood, which spanned nearly four decades, as a successful columnist and author. 2Early life Graham was born Lily Shiel in Leeds, England, the youngest of Rebecca (Blashman) and Louis Shiel's eight children (two died). Her parents were Ukrainian Jews. Her father, a tailor who had fled the pogroms, died of tuberculosis on a trip to Berlin while she 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. Her mother, who spoke little English, struggled to provide for her children there by cleaning public lavatories. In 1914, her mother was forced by these circumstances to place her in the Jews Hospital and Orphanag