http://www.hanfordsentinel.com/articles/2009/09/08/ap-state-ca/us_obit_army_archerd.txt
Columnist Army Archerd dies at 87
By DERRIK J. LANG
Army Archerd, whose breezy column for the entertainment trade
publication Daily Variety kept tabs on various Hollywood doings for
more than a half-century, has died. He was 87.
Archerd's wife,
Selma, said he died Tuesday at UCLA Medical Center of mesothelioma, a
cancer of the lungs strongly tied to asbestos exposure. She said the
cancer was the result of his time spent in shipyards while serving in
the Navy during World War II. She said he had become very ill over the
last two years, especially in the last two weeks.
"He was the love of my life," said Selma.
Over
the years, Archerd won praise from the Hollywood establishment for
always checking the accuracy of his news tips before printing them. He
had an extensive phone directory of much-guarded private numbers that
he would use to call movie stars and studio bosses directly to ferret
out which rumors were true and which were not.
His biggest scoop
came in 1985 when he was first to report that veteran leading man Rock
Hudson had AIDS. It was the first time a major Hollywood star was
disclosed to be an AIDS victim, and it helped break down some of the
secrecy surrounding the disease.
Archerd _ born Armand Archerd in New York in 1922 _ also broke the
story that Julia Roberts had jilted fiance Keifer Sutherland in 1991
and that longtime bachelor Warren Beatty had married Annette Bening in
1992. His source for the Beatty-Bening story was Beatty himself.
"I
know it sounds like a cliche," said Selma, "but the time we spent
together, it was just an outstanding life of knowing the most gorgeous
people in the world, being very well accepted by them, traveling all
over the world like millionaires, even though we were poor."
For
more than 50 years, Archerd also served as the greeter-interviewer at
the Academy Awards. Acting nominees and other celebrities were
conducted to a platform alongside the red carpet for a brief chat with
Archerd that was heard by the thousands of fans gathered outside the
theater.
"I try to give the nominees a little moment in the sun, maybe their last," he
explained in 2002.
Archerd's
columns were generally mild-mannered, although he could lash out at
what he considered wrongdoing. After he excoriated Michael Jackson for
including anti-Semitic remarks in his "HIStory" album, the entertainer
apologized and took them out.
Archerd's first brush with the
studios came in the early 1940s when he worked in the Paramount
mailroom while a student at the University of California, Los Angeles.
After
wartime service in the Navy, he returned to Los Angeles and began his
news career working with longtime entertainment reporter Bob Thomas on
a daily Hollywood column for The Associated Press.
Three years later he became an aide to Harrison Carroll, the gossip columnist
for the now-defunct Los Angeles Herald-Examiner.
In
1953 he was chosen to write Daily Variety's "Just for Variety" column,
which was required morning reading for Hollywood's movers and shakers.
He later went on to become one of the first journalists to be honored
with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
His marriage to Joan
Archerd, which produced two children, Amanda and Evan, ended in divorce
in 1969 after 25 years. He married his second wife, Selma, in 1970.
Archerd is survived by his wife, his son and two stepsons.
Associated Press Writer Bob Thomas contributed to this report
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