There have been gossip reporters almost as long as there's been a Hollywood. There's a street in Lakewood that honors one of the most famous celebrity scribes in the business.

You have to remember that Lakewood was created almost entirely in the early 1950s. D.J. Waldie, author of "California Romantica," says the L.A. suburb gave a nod to some of those who were famous at the time.

"There are many streets in Lakewood that are named after semi-obscure characters from Hollywood. There's Hedda Street, named after Hedda Hopper."

Hopper began her career as a silent movie actress, working in more than a hundred films. But by the 1950s, she was best known for her second career as a gossip columnist. Hopper was powerful. She dubbed her fancy home "the house that fear built." She outed alleged Hollywood Communists during the McCarthy era.

Hopper was born Elda Furry. The story is she paid a numerologist ten bucks to come up with a new name. Good thing, or those folks on Hedda Street could be living on Elda Avenue.

(Airdate for this story: 1/13/08)