Notable people · Journalist · Columnist · Author
Earl Wilson
Earl Wilson was born in Rockford, Mercer County. His syndicated New York Post column It Happened Last Night ran for 41 years and reached 175 newspapers at its peak.
At a glance
- Born
- 1907-05-03
- Died
- 1987-01-16
- Education
- Heidelberg College, Tiffin, OH, two years
- Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, B.S. journalism 1931
- Known as
- Journalist, Columnist, Author
- Organizations
- New York Post
Life story
Harvey Earl Wilson was born in 1907 in Rockford, Ohio, the son of farmer Arthur Wilson and Chloe Huffman Wilson. He studied for two years at Heidelberg College and earned a journalism degree at Ohio State in 1931.
He worked at The Washington Post in 1935, then at the New York Post. In 1942 he took over the column It Happened Last Night, which became a fixture of Broadway and nightlife gossip.
He hosted a DuMont television show in 1951-52 and wrote books including The Show Business Nobody Knows (1971) and Sinatra: An Unauthorized Biography (1976). The column ended in 1983.
He married Rosemary Lyons in 1936. He died in 1987 after a stroke.
Timeline
- 1907-05-03: Born (Rockford, OH) source
- 1931: B.S. in journalism, Ohio State (Columbus, OH) source
- 1935: Joins The Washington Post, then the New York Post source
- 1942: Takes over It Happened Last Night (New York, NY) source
- 1951: Hosts Stage Entrance on DuMont (New York, NY) source
- 1983: Column ends source
- 1987-01-16: Dies (Yonkers, NY) source
What Earl is known for
- Wrote the syndicated column It Happened Last Night, 1942-1983
- Hosted the TV show Stage Entrance, 1951-52
- Column reached 175 newspapers in the 1960s
- It Happened Last Night (column)
- The Show Business Nobody Knows (1971)
- Sinatra: An Unauthorized Biography (1976)
Honors and things named for them
- Ed Sullivan dedicated the Beatles' first Ed Sullivan Show appearance partly to him
Family
- wife: Rosemary Lyons
- son: Earl Wilson Jr.
Ohio places
Where Earl Wilson was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.
- Born: Rockford, Mercer County ZIP 45882 · Rockford · Mercer County
Further reading
Sources
Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.
- Wikipedia: Earl Wilson (columnist) birth, education, column, books, death