William Richard "Billy" Wilkerson (September 29, 1890 – September 2, 1962) was the founder of The Hollywood Reporter,[1] a real estate developer in Las Vegas and owner of such nightclubs as Ciro's. His series of columns known as "Billy's List" helped to initiate the red scare that led to the Hollywood blacklist. Wilkerson "discovered" Lana Turner.[2]
Personal life
Wilkerson was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 29, 1890. He began to study medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but when his father died leaving extensive gambling debts, Wilkerson quit school to support himself and his mother. He became a compulsive gambler himself, but quit when his son was born in October 1951.
Wilkerson was in relatively poor health throughout the latter half of the 1950s due to decades of excessive smoking. He continued to head The Hollywood Reporter and write his daily "Tradeviews" column until shortly before his death. Wilkerson died of a heart attack on September 2, 1962, at his Bel-Air home, one day before The Hollywood Reporter's 32nd anniversary. He is interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.
When a friend won a Fort Lee, New Jersey movie theater in a bet, Wilkerson agreed to manage it in exchange for half the profits. Expanding his work in the movie industry, he became district manager at Universal Pictures under Carl Laemmle.
The Hollywood Reporter
Wilkerson published the first issue of The Hollywood Reporter on September 3, 1930.[3] He began each issue with a self-penned editorial entitled "Tradeviews", which proved highly influential.
In 1946, he began a series of columns in The Hollywood Reporter, listing suspected Communist sympathizers; "Billy's List" helped to initiate the "red scare" that led to the Hollywood blacklist.[4]
Business ventures
Partial payment to Margaret M. Folsom for the Flamingo land signed by William R. Wilkerson, March 5, 1945
Wilkerson opened a series of social nightspots on Los Angeles' Sunset Strip. Seeing opportunities in Las Vegas, he made key investments there as well.
Restaurants, nightclubs, and hotels that Wilkerson started:
The Flamingo Hotel (1945) Wilkerson named the hotel, then began development and building of the property, but ran low of money. Bugsy Siegel soon moved in to help finish the hotel casino with mob financing, and Wilkerson eventually sold out his share to Siegel.[6]
Nesteroff, Kliph (3 November 2015). The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy. Open Road + Grove/Atlantic. ISBN978-0-8021-9086-4.
Further reading
Rasmussen, Cecilia (1998). "The Dawn of the Sunset Strip". L.A. Unconventional: The Men and Women Who Did L.A. Their Way. Los Angeles: Los Angeles Times. pp. 136–137. ISBN978-1-883792-23-7. OCLC40701771.
