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Article: The Walter Winchell of the elites: the triumph of celebrityism in high-brow America.(Dominick Dunne)
- Article from:
- The Washington Monthly
- Article date:
- April 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Washington Monthly Company. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The triumph of celebrityism in high-brow America
Wherever he is today, Walter Winchell must be positively pea green with envy. A pioneer in the field of celebrity journalism in the 1930s, Winchell gave John and Jane Q. Public the inside skinny on the stars of the society, sports, and entertainment worlds and was among the first to lump that new elite together. But Winchell plied his craft in an era when, although the general public devoured his work, the cultural and intellectual elite never paid him much attention. Name dropping and celebrity gossip sold, but it didn't win you much respect.
Today, all that has changed. No longer must one choose between ...