A Very Public Private Affair

Few men in America lived a more public life than newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. Press lord, multi-millionaire and would-be politician, he bestrode the American scene for over 60 years. Yet, at the end of the First World War, he left his wife and family for a chorus-girl called Marion Davies. Never a man to do anything by halves, Hearst was determined to transform his mistress into a Hollywood star. In this programme the story of that 30-year very public private love affair is told by some of the people who were closest to them, including movie stars Ben Lyon and Eleanor Boardman, Hearst journalist Adela Rogers St Johns and Hollywood writers Sam Marx and Anita Loos.