Robert Harrison (April 14, 1904 – February 17, 1978) was an American journalist and publisher, best known for founding and publishing sensationalist and scandal-focused magazines in the mid-20th century. He worked for the New York Evening Graphic and the Motion Picture Herald. He gained notoriety for creating Confidential, a tabloid-style magazine launched in 1952, which became infamous for its exposés on celebrities, politicians, and public figures.

Harrison's publishing style, which combined gossip, scandal, and investigative journalism, pushed the boundaries of privacy laws and defamation cases, leading to numerous legal battles. Despite its controversial nature, Confidential was highly successful, influencing the development of modern tabloid journalism and setting the stage for future celebrity gossip publications.

Following increased legal pressure and shifting public attitudes, Harrison's influence waned by the 1960s, and Confidential eventually ceased publication. However, his work left a lasting impact on sensationalist media and tabloid culture in the United States.

Early life Born Max Harrison, FamilySearch (accessed December 9, 2014) "Max Harrison United States Census, 1910" FamilySearch. Max Harrison is the name given in the 1910 US Census, which lists Max Harrison, aged 6, son of Benjamin and Pauline Harrison. Daughters are Helen (age 16), Gertrude (age 12) and Ida (age 10). the youngest child and only son of Benjamin Harrison (February 1868 – 1933) and Pauline (née Israelowitz) Harrison (July 1870 – June 1939), Lithuanian Jewish immigrants from then the Russian Empire. Max grew up in New York City, first in lower Manhattan and later the Bronx, with three sisters, who doted on "the baby" of the family. As a young child, Max decided to replace his birth name with "Robert." Early on, Robert appeared magnanimous, if only due to a tendency to quickly forget slights as he could be not bothered to focus on the negative. In school he did poorly at math but well at English. He wanted to write for a living. At the age of 12, he authored and published a travel guide to roadside inns, Harrison's Weekend Guide. After the printer refused to give Harrison his share of the profits, Harrison formed a belief that one could only trust family members, whom he would later employ in various publishing projects.Samuel Bernstein, (Walford Press, 1st edition, November 27, 2006), Mr. Confidential: The Man, His Magazine & The Movieland Massacre That Changed Hollywood Forever, pp. 21–22 But years later, his generous nature would lead him to make an exception at the height of his success with an ex-McCarthyite editor with deadly repercussions.Henry E. Scott (Pantheon, 1st reprint edition, January 19, 2010), Shocking True Story: The Rise and Fall of Confidential, "America's Most Scandalous Scandal Magazine, pp. 134, 172–173

As a teen, Harrison attended Stuyvesant High School for two years before dropping out. He would later attend night classes at Columbia University.Henry E. Scott (Pantheon, 1st reprint edition, January 19, 2010), Shocking True Story: The Rise and Fall of Confidential, "America's Most Scandalous Scandal Magazine, p. 29

Journalist During the 1920s Harrison began his journalistic career as a copy boyTom Wolfe (Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1st edition, September 1982), "Purveyor of the Public Life," The Purple Decades: A Reader, p. 79 for Bernarr McFadden's New York Evening Graphic,Darden Asbury Pyron (University Of Chicago Press, June 1, 2001), Liberace: An American Boy, p. 216 an ancestor of the supermarket tabloids that would emerge in the 1960s. Called the "Pornographic" by detractors for its emphasis on sex,Neal Gabler (April 2003), "The Scandalmonger: Confidential's Reign of Terror," Vanity Fair (New York City, New York), p. 194 crime and violence, it would provide many of the themes that Harrison would use as a publisher. Among his coworkers were a sportswriter, Ed Sullivan, and a crime reporter, Samuel Fuller. Harrison also met his future hero and mentor, Walter Winchell. At the Graphic, Harrison worked his way up to advertising space salesman. But before the paper failed in 1932, Harrison worked eight months as a reporter. One of his first stories was about a Ziegfeld Follies showgirl clad only in balloons. After the Graphic shutdown, Harrison sold song lyrics and returned to writing travel guides (for Cook's). His father, Benjamin Harrison, was a working-class coppersmith who scoffed at what he called "air business"—advertising and journalism—he wanted his son to become a carpenter. But Robert persisted after his father's death in 1933. In 1935 Harrison joined the editorial staff of the Motion Picture Herald,Henry E. Scott (Pantheon, 1st reprint edition, January 19, 2010), Shocking True Story: The Rise and Fall of Confidential, "America's Most Scandalous Scandal Magazine, p.13Samuel Bernstein, (Walford Press, 1st edition, November 27, 2006), Mr. Confidential: The Man, His Magazine & The Movieland Massacre That Changed Hollywood Forever, p. 24 a film trade publication whose conservative Catholic owner, Martin Quigley, Sr., had close ties to the Hays Office. Quigley would himself author the decency guidelines with Jesuit Daniel A. Lord that became known as the "Hays Code."Henry E. Scott (Pantheon, 1st reprint edition, January 19, 2010), Shocking True Story: The Rise and Fall of Confidential, "America's Most Scandalous Scandal Magazine, pp. 13–15 In 1935 Quigley in sent Harrison to the Hollywood offices of Quigley Publishing. There Harrison collected publicity photos of would-be actresses sent by agents. While in Hollywood, the idea of a magazine began to form.Samuel Bernstein, (Walford Press, 1st edition, November 27, 2006), Mr. Confidential: The Man, His Magazine & The Movieland Massacre That Changed Hollywood Forever, pp. 25–26

Publisher

Cheesecake Harrison returned to New York City. Having learned from Quigley what he could get away with legally, Harrison struck out on his own with a series of non-pornographic "cheesecake" magazines.Anthony Slide (University Press of Mississippi, February 26, 2010), Inside the Hollywood Fan Magazine: A History of Star Makers, Fabricators, and Gossip Mongers, p. 180 His first was Beauty Parade (1941–1956), started in October 1941. It contained, as its subtitle suggests ("The World's Loveliest Girls"), pictures of attractive models who had the "girl-next-door" look. Beauty Parade also began the photo-story format that would be repeated by other Harrison publications. Using the facilities of Quigley Publishing surreptitiously at night, Harrison used the photos from his Hollywood visit to paste together his galleries. When he was caught and fired on Christmas Eve, 1941, his sisters Edith and Helen rallied around him and raised several thousand dollars in capital, $400 of it from his favorite niece, Marjorie, who would later become a central figure in his most famous enterprise.Henry E. Scott (Pantheon, 1st reprint edition, January 19, 2010), Shocking True Story: The Rise and Fall of Confidential, "America's Most Scandalous Scandal Magazine, pp. 14–15Samuel Bernstein, (Walford Press, 1st edition, November 27, 2006), Mr. Confidential: The Man, His Magazine & The Movieland Massacre That Changed Hollywood Forever, pp. 28–29

Harrison's next magazine, Eyeful (1942–1955), was similar to Beauty Parade. The depicted women were still fully, or partially, clothed but were placed in more intimate positions. The models still had the girl-next-door look ("Glorifying the American Girl") and would feature a Wall Street secretary, Bettie Page, then supplementing her income for acting lessons.Bunny Yeager (St. Martin's Griffin, 1st edition, July 15, 1994), Betty Page Confidential, p. 26. Harrison would later introduce Page to Irving Klaw. During this period Harrison hired Edythe Farrell from the National Police Gazette. Farrell, a psychology major from Hunter College, "introduced her new boss to Krafft-Ebing's Psychopathia Sexualis and the idea that whips and chains and spike heels would sell."Henry E. Scott (Pantheon, 1st reprint edition, January 19, 2010), Shocking True Story: The Rise and Fall of Confidential, "America's Most Scandalous Scandal Magazine, pp. 15–16 Titter (1943–1955), which focused on sadomasochist themes—with women in bondage, handling whips or being spanked—began Harrison's move from "wholesome" looking models.Samuel Bernstein, (Walford Press, 1st edition, November 27, 2006), Mr. Confidential: The Man, His Magazine & The Movieland Massacre That Changed Hollywood Forever, pp. 17–19 Wink (1944–1955) also featured sadomasochist imagery, but contained a stronger element of fetishism. After World War II, Harrison created Flirt (1947–1955), which mainly featured fetishist photo-stories. Harrison was not beyond posing himself with the models, "playing everything from pith-helmeted white slaver to wife spanker."Victor Davis, (British Journalism Review, Volume 13, No. 4, 2002), "The father of scandal," p. 74 To enhance sales he used three leading Petty Girl-like artists of the day to do the covers: Peter Driben, Earl Moran (AKA Steffa) and Billy De Vorss.Henry E. Scott (Pantheon, 1st reprint edition, January 19, 2010), Shocking True Story: The Rise and Fall of Confidential, "America's Most Scandalous Scandal Magazine, p. 16

The one Harrison men's magazine that differed from the Beauty Parade format was Whisper, started in April 1946. It began as a clone of Beauty Parade, but became more explicit, violent and blatantly sexual. In 1953, Harrison was arrested for staging a Whisper photo shoot at a New Jersey golf course. It starred Page as a prisoner being tortured by models dressed in skimpy Ku Klux Klan-like costumes. But the old format of suggested nudity and sex was not working in the 1950s as it did in the '40s. During the heyday of his cheesecake magazines, Harrison moved with his sister Helen from their two-bedroom apartment into a nine-bedroom suite at the Parc Vendôme. Harrison became a fixture on the New York nightclub scene and was portrayed as a playboy in society columns. He indulged in his trademark proclivity toward all things white—Cadillacs, tailored suits from Sulka (Amos Sulka & Company, a defunct maker of men's wear), cashmere polo coats and hats.Henry E. Scott (Pantheon, 1st reprint edition, January 19, 2010), Shocking True Story: The Rise and Fall of Confidential, "America's Most Scandalous Scandal Magazine, p. 15Neal Gabler (April 2003), "The Scandalmonger: Confidential's Reign of Terror," Vanity Fair (New York City, New York), p. 197 He was often photographed in the company of Broadway or Hollywood starlets. But the circulation of his magazines declined in the post-war years. By early 1952Henry E. Scott (Pantheon, 1st reprint edition, January 19, 2010), Shocking True Story: The Rise and Fall of Confidential, "America's Most Scandalous Scandal Magazine, p. 17 his accountant told him that he was broke.Tom Wolfe (Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1st edition, September 1982), "Purveyor of the Public Life," The Purple Decades: A Reader, p. 80 In addition to rival imitators, Harrison "could not compete with the new celebrity focused men's magazine, Playboy, whose first issue, released in 1953, featured a full color centerfold of Marilyn Monroe."Sarah Marie Horne (University of Missouri, Columbia, 2011), Judged by their covers: Robert Harrison's girlie magazines, 1941-1955, p.63 But Harrison had an aversion to real nudity and never went the route of Playboy. Instead, he returned to his New York Graphic roots. Thus, Whisper would morph a third time in the 1950s to imitate the most audacious of Harrison's periodicals.Samuel Bernstein, (Walford Press, 1st edition, November 27, 2006), Mr. Confidential: The Man, His Magazine & The Movieland Massacre That Changed Hollywood Forever, pp. 31–33

Confidential

Origins