Helen Gurley Brown
Encyclopedia
Helen Gurley Brown is an author
, publisher, and businesswoman. She was editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan
magazine for 32 years.
, Arkansas
and died in 1980. Her father was once appointed Commissioner of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. The family moved to Little Rock, Arkansas
after Ira won an election to the Arkansas state legislature. He died in an elevator accident on June 18, 1932. In 1937, Brown, her sister Mary, and their mother moved to Los Angeles
, California
. A few months after moving, Mary contracted polio. While in California, Brown attended John H. Francis Polytechnic High School
.
After graduation, the family moved to Warm Springs
, Georgia
. Brown attended one semester at Texas State College for Women and then moved back to California to attend Woodbury Business College
. She graduated in 1941. In 1947, Cleo and Mary moved to Osage, Arkansas while Brown stayed in Los Angeles.
After working at the William Morris Agency
, Music Corporation of America
, and Jaffe
talent agencies she went to work for Foote, Cone & Belding advertising agency as a secretary. Her employer recognized her writing skills and moved her to the copywriting
department where she advanced rapidly to become one of the nation's highest paid ad copywriters in the early 1960s. In 1959 she married David Brown
, who would become the producer of Jaws
, The Sting
, Cocoon
, Driving Miss Daisy
, and other motion pictures.
In 1962, at the age of 40, her bestselling book Sex and the Single Girl
was published. In 1965, she became editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan and reversed the fortunes of the failing magazine. During the decade of the 1960s she was an outspoken advocate of women's sexual freedom
and sought to provide them with role-models and a guide in her magazine. She claimed that women could have it all, "love, sex, and money", a view that even preceding feminists such as Betty Friedan
and Germaine Greer
did not support at all and has been met with notable opposition by advocates of grass-roots devotion of women to family and marriage. Due to her advocacy, glamorous, fashion-focused women were sometimes called "Cosmo Girls". Her work played a part in what is often called the sexual revolution.
In 1997, Brown was ousted from her role as the US editor of Cosmopolitan
and was replaced by Bonnie Fuller
. When she left, Cosmopolitan ranked sixth at the newsstand, and for the 16th straight year, ranked first in bookstores on college campuses. However, she stayed on at Hearst
publishing and remains the international editor for all 59 international editions of Cosmo.
In September, 2008, she was named the 13th most powerful American over the age of 80 by Slate
magazine.
After more than 50 years of marriage, her husband David Brown died at age 93 on February 1, 2010.
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, publisher, and businesswoman. She was editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
magazine for 32 years.
Personal life and career
Brown was born to parents Cleo and Ira Marvin Gurley. Her mother was born in AlpenaAlpena, Arkansas
Alpena is a town in Boone and Carroll counties in the U.S. state of Arkansas. The population was 371 at the 2000 census.The Boone County portion of Alpena is part of the Harrison Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
and died in 1980. Her father was once appointed Commissioner of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. The family moved to Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
after Ira won an election to the Arkansas state legislature. He died in an elevator accident on June 18, 1932. In 1937, Brown, her sister Mary, and their mother moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. A few months after moving, Mary contracted polio. While in California, Brown attended John H. Francis Polytechnic High School
John H. Francis Polytechnic High School
John H. Francis Polytechnic High School is a secondary school located in the Sun Valley area of Los Angeles, California. It serves grades 9 through 12 and is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District...
.
After graduation, the family moved to Warm Springs
Warm Springs, Georgia
Warm Springs is a city in Meriwether County, Georgia, United States. The population was 478 at the 2010 census.-History:Warm Springs first came to prominence in the 19th century as a spa town, due to its mineral springs which flow constantly at nearly 32 °C...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. Brown attended one semester at Texas State College for Women and then moved back to California to attend Woodbury Business College
Woodbury University
Woodbury University, founded as "Woodbury Business College", is a private, non-profit, coeducational, nonsectarian university located in Burbank, California.-History:...
. She graduated in 1941. In 1947, Cleo and Mary moved to Osage, Arkansas while Brown stayed in Los Angeles.
After working at the William Morris Agency
William Morris Agency
WME is the largest talent agency in the world, with offices in Beverly Hills, New York City, Nashville, London, and Miami. WME represents elite artists from all facets of the entertainment industry, including motion pictures, television, music, theatre, publishing, and physical production...
, Music Corporation of America
Music Corporation of America
MCA, Inc. was an American talent agency. Initially starting in the music business, they would next become a dominant force in the film business, and later expanded into the television business...
, and Jaffe
Sam Jaffe (producer)
Sam Jaffe was, at different points in his career in the motion picture industry, an agent, a producer and a studio executive. He was brother-in-law to B.P...
talent agencies she went to work for Foote, Cone & Belding advertising agency as a secretary. Her employer recognized her writing skills and moved her to the copywriting
Copywriting
Copywriting is the use of words and ideas to promote a person, business, opinion or idea. Although the word copy may be applied to any content intended for printing , the term copywriter is generally limited to promotional situations, regardless of the medium...
department where she advanced rapidly to become one of the nation's highest paid ad copywriters in the early 1960s. In 1959 she married David Brown
David Brown (producer)
David Brown was an American film producer.-Early life and career:Brown was born in New York City, the son of Lillian and Edward Fisher Brown. He was best known as the producing partner of Richard D. Zanuck. They were jointly awarded the Irving G...
, who would become the producer of Jaws
Jaws (film)
Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
, The Sting
The Sting
The Sting is a 1973 American caper film set in September 1936 that involves a complicated plot by two professional grifters to con a mob boss . The film was directed by George Roy Hill, who previously directed Newman and Redford in the western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.Created by...
, Cocoon
Cocoon (film)
The score for Cocoon was composed and conducted by James Horner. The soundtrack was released twice, through Polydor Records in 1985 and a reprint through P.E.G. in 1997 and features eleven tracks of score and a vocal track performed by Michael Sembello...
, Driving Miss Daisy
Driving Miss Daisy
Driving Miss Daisy is a 1989 American comedy-drama film adapted from the Alfred Uhry play of the same name. The film was directed by Bruce Beresford, with Morgan Freeman reprising his role as Hoke Colburn and Jessica Tandy playing Miss Daisy...
, and other motion pictures.
In 1962, at the age of 40, her bestselling book Sex and the Single Girl
Sex and the Single Girl
Sex and the Single Girl was written in 1962 by Helen Gurley Brown, as an advice book that encouraged women to become financially independent and experience sexual relationships before or without marriage...
was published. In 1965, she became editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan and reversed the fortunes of the failing magazine. During the decade of the 1960s she was an outspoken advocate of women's sexual freedom
Sexual norm
A sexual norm can refer to a personal or a social norm. Most cultures have social norms regarding sexuality, and define normal sexuality to consist only of certain legal sex acts between individuals who meet specific criteria of age, consanguinity , race/ethnicity A sexual norm can refer to a...
and sought to provide them with role-models and a guide in her magazine. She claimed that women could have it all, "love, sex, and money", a view that even preceding feminists such as Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan was an American writer, activist, and feminist.A leading figure in the Women's Movement in the United States, her 1963 book The Feminine Mystique is often credited with sparking the "second wave" of American feminism in the twentieth century...
and Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer is an Australian writer, academic, journalist and scholar of early modern English literature, widely regarded as one of the most significant feminist voices of the later 20th century....
did not support at all and has been met with notable opposition by advocates of grass-roots devotion of women to family and marriage. Due to her advocacy, glamorous, fashion-focused women were sometimes called "Cosmo Girls". Her work played a part in what is often called the sexual revolution.
In 1997, Brown was ousted from her role as the US editor of Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
and was replaced by Bonnie Fuller
Bonnie Fuller
Bonnie Fuller is a Canadian media executive and the editor of HollywoodLife.com. Fuller has been responsible for several magazine titles, including as Vice President and Chief Editorial Director of American Media .She was editor of Flare magazine, YM magazine, the...
. When she left, Cosmopolitan ranked sixth at the newsstand, and for the 16th straight year, ranked first in bookstores on college campuses. However, she stayed on at Hearst
Hearst Corporation
The Hearst Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower, Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...
publishing and remains the international editor for all 59 international editions of Cosmo.
In September, 2008, she was named the 13th most powerful American over the age of 80 by Slate
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
magazine.
After more than 50 years of marriage, her husband David Brown died at age 93 on February 1, 2010.
Awards
- 1995: Henry Johnson Fisher Award from the Magazine Publishers of America
- 1996: American Society of Magazine Editors' Hall of Fame Award
Works
- Sex and the Single GirlSex and the Single GirlSex and the Single Girl was written in 1962 by Helen Gurley Brown, as an advice book that encouraged women to become financially independent and experience sexual relationships before or without marriage...
(1962) - Lessons In Love—LP Record on How To Love A Girl & How To Love A Man (1963) Crescendo Records, GNP #604
- Sex and the Office (1965)
- Outrageous Opinions of Helen Gurley Brown (1967)
- Helen Gurley Brown's Single Girl's Cookbook (1969)
- Sex and the New Single Girl (1970)
- Having It AllHaving it all"Having it all" was a six-episode radio drama series on BBC Scotland aired in 2007 written by Jackie Bird and produced by The Comedy Unit.- Plot :The plot of "having it all" revolves around Debbie and her family- her teenage daughter named Lucy and her ten year old son Oliver...
(1982) - The Late Show: A Semi Wild but Practical Guide for Women Over 50 (1993)
- The Writer's Rules: The Power of Positive Prose—How to Create It and Get It Published (1998)
- Snippets from My Life and a Few Brazen Thoughts (2000)