ARCHERD, ARMY

ARCHERD, ARMY (Armand Archer; 1919– ), U.S. columnist. The son of a textile worker, Armand Archer was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. In 1939, he moved with his family to Los Angeles, where he studied languages at UCLA. After serving on a destroyer in the Navy during WWII, Archerd returned to Los Angeles hoping to pursue a career in writing. He worked in the Hollywood bureau of the Associated Press until he was hired as a "legman" for Harrison Carroll, the Hollywood columnist at the now defunct Los Angeles Herald Express. In 1953, Archerd began his iconic career as a columnist for Daily Variety. His upbeat "Just for Variety" column presented an assortment of short and unrelated pieces of entertainment news, and he was soon recognized as one of Hollywood's most important opinion-makers and cultural icons. He has won numerous awards for his journalism, most notably the Journalistic Merit Award which he received in 1962 from the Golden Globes. In 1985, Archerd broke the story that Rock Hudson had AIDS and the article contributed to the growing awareness of the epidemic. In addition to his column, Archerd hosted numerous variety shows and movie premieres, the most famous being the red carpet ceremony at the Academy Awards. He also developed a second career as an actor, playing bit parts in over a hundred films and TV shows, often appearing as himself. In 1984, he was given his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to commemorate his iconic status. He is married to actress Selma Archerd. (Max Joseph (2nd ed.)