William Richard "Billy" Wilkerson (September 29, 1890 – September 2, 1962) was the founder of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'', a real estate developer in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

and owner of such nightclubs as

Ciro's Ciro's (later known as Ciro's Le Disc) was a nightclub on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, California owned by William Wilkerson. Opened in 1940, Ciro's became a popular nightspot for celebrities. The nightclub closed in 1957 and was reope ...

. His series of columns known as "Billy's List" helped to initiate the

red scare A Red Scare is the promotion of a widespread fear of a potential rise of communism, anarchism or other leftist ideologies by a society or state. The term is most often used to refer to two periods in the history of the United States which ar ...

that led to the Hollywood blacklist.

Personal life

Wilkerson was born in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, on September 29, 1890. He began to study medicine in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, 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 A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

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 Holy Cross Cemetery may refer to: United States California * Holy Cross Cemetery (Colma, California) *Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California * Holy Cross Cemetery (Menlo Park, California) * Holy Cross Cemetery (Pomona, California) *Holy ...

in Culver City. Wilkerson was married six times. His wives were: * Helen Durkin - probably around 1913 or 1914 - probably New York or Fort Lee, New Jersey - Durkin died in the Spanish Influenza Epidemic of 1918. * Edith Gwynn Goldenhorn - June 22, 1927 - Los Angeles, CA - August 7, 1935 - Cd. Juárez,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

* Rita Ann Seward - September 30, 1935 - Las Vegas - May 9, 1938 - Los Angeles, CA * Estelle Jackson Brown - December 12, 1939 - Las Vegas, NV - August 13, 1942 - Reno, NV * Vivian DuBois - May 9, 1946 - Las Vegas, NV - March 14, 1950 - Los Angeles, CA * Beatrice Ruby Noble - February 23, 1951 - Phoenix, AZ - His death

Career

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 Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

under Carl Laemmle.

''The Hollywood Reporter''

Wilkerson published the first issue of ''The Hollywood Reporter'' on September 3, 1930. 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 "

" that led to the Hollywood blacklist.

Business ventures

Wilkerson opened a series of social nightspots on Los Angeles'

Sunset Strip The Sunset Strip is the stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with the city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western border with Beverl ...

. Seeing opportunities in Las Vegas, he made key investments there as well. Restaurants, nightclubs, and hotels that Wilkerson started: * Vendome Wine & Spirits Co. (1933) * Cafe Trocadero (1934) * Sunset House (1936) (haberdashery & barbershop) * The Arrowhead Springs Hotel (1939) *

(1940) * Restaurant La Rue (

) (1944) * 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. * L'Aiglon (1947) * Club LaRue (of

) (December 1950)

References

External links

William Wilkerson
at

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