Lloyd Shearer
{{Short description|American celebrity gossip columnist}}
Lloyd "Skip" Shearer (December 20, 1916 – May 27, 2001Wadler, Joyce. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/27/us/lloyd-shearer-longtime-celebrity-columnist-dies-at-84.html Lloyd Shearer, Longtime Celebrity Columnist, Dies at 84]." The New York Times. May 27, 2001. Retrieved on August 5, 2014.) was an American celebrity gossip columnist. From 1958 to 1991, he wrote "Walter Scott's Personality Parade" in Parade magazine.Cockburn, Alexander. "Why People Are Talking About Gossip." New York magazine. May 3, 1976. p. [http://nymag.com/news/features/47180/index1.html 2]. Retrieved on October 5, 2014. In this column he used the name Walter Scott, and discussed rumors about celebrities using a question-and-answer style. Shearer also wrote profiles of famous people under his real name.
Career
Shearer began writing in high school.
- {{cite news |last1=Woo |first1=Elaine |title=Lloyd Shearer; Leader of the 'Personality Parade' |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-may-26-me-2841-story.html |access-date=26 November 2024 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=26 May 2001}}
- {{cite news |last1=Woo |first1=Elaine |title=Lloyd Shearer, Wrote `Personality Parade' |url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2001-05-28/news/0105270389_1_nation-s-curiosity-personality-parade-column-lloyd-shearer |access-date=26 November 2024 |work=Sun Sentinel |agency=The Los Angeles Times |date=May 28, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811072847/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2001-05-28/news/0105270389_1_nation-s-curiosity-personality-parade-column-lloyd-shearer |archive-date=11 August 2014 }}
He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and in 1936 he graduated with a bachelor's degree in the English language. His first job was for the Durham Sun in North Carolina. In 1941, Shearer was drafted into the Army. When the military magazine Yank was established, Shearer joined the staff in New York City. Later, he was transferred to Los Angeles where he wrote for Armed Forces Radio, as part of the Pacific Theater division. He also became a correspondent for The New York Times while still serving in the Army{{cite news |last1=Shearer |first1=Lloyd |author1-link=Lloyd Shearer |title=What's in a Name? Ask Hollywood; There is method in the movie mania to change titles and it is always very complicated. Hollywood Changes Names |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1945/12/30/archives/whats-in-a-name-ask-hollywood-there-is-method-in-the-movie-mania-to.html |access-date=26 November 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=Dec 30, 1945}} and after serving, until 1953. Then he became the West Coast correspondent of Parade, then starting his "Walter Scott's Personality Parade" column in 1958. Shearer retired from writing the column in 1991, due to Parkinson's disease.
Life
Shearer was born in New York City on December 20, 1916. Shearer's parents had immigrated from Austria, and his father worked as a typesetter. The neighborhood where Shearer was raised was described as "working class".
Shearer married fellow writer, Marva Peterson. They had three children: Derek, a former U.S. Ambassador to Finland, and twins Cody and Brooke. Lloyd Shearer died of a heart attack at his Los Angeles home on Thursday May 27, 2001.{{cite news |last1=Pearson |first1=Richard |title=Celebrity Journalist Lloyd Shearer Dies |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2001/05/26/celebrity-journalist-lloyd-shearer-dies/e49631a0-03e4-4498-979f-a4290e1f3b96/ |access-date=26 November 2024 |work=The Washington Post |date=May 25, 2001}}
Shearer was mentioned in the 1942 best-selling book about a journalist's experiences in military service, See Here Private Hargrove. From that exposure Shearer was said to have "gained some notoriety".
References
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Category:Writers from New York City