Legendary gossip columnist who charted Donald Trump’s divorce from Ivana passes away after 30-year career
She chronicled the lives of Hollywood stars along with moguls, models and the wealthy in her column 'Liz Smith'.
NEW York gossip columnist Liz Smith, who covered the break-up of Donald Trump's first marriage, has died aged 94.
The Texas native passed away yesterday of natural causes at her Manhattan home, according to her literary agent Joni Evans.
For more than three decades, Smith chronicled the lives of Hollywood stars along with moguls, models and the wealthy in her column titled 'Liz Smith'.
She famously broke the news of Trump's separation from his first wife, Ivana, in the New York Daily News, one of several papers where she worked over the years.
She also worked at New York Newsday and the New York Post.
Her column was widely syndicated, and at her peak she earned more than $1 million (£764,000) a year, according to the New York Times.
Unlike her predecessors in the gossip field, her coverage often had less to do with scandal and more about offering readers a window into the lives of the rich and famous.
Born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1923, Smith graduated from the University of Texas in 1949 with a degree in journalism and, a year later, moved to New York.
She went on to write for nine New York newspapers and dozens of magazines, but it was a stint writing for Cosmopolitan that led to her break.
While establishing herself as an authority on Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Smith attracted the attention of the New York Daily News.
She started her own column at the tabloid in 1976.
Her scoops included Donald Trump’s 1990 split from first wife, Ivana. Later, in The New York Post, she supported her celebrity friends, including backing Billy Bob Thornton after word got out that he and Angelina Jolie had gotten married and exchanged necklaces adorned with vials of each other’s blood.
In an interview with The New York Times last July, Smith revealed that she was having trouble moving after suffering a minor stroke.
“I can’t walk. I can’t talk as well as I used to, but I’m relatively healthy otherwise,” she explained.
She also responded to criticism that she was a little too friendly with the celebrities she covered.
“I needed access to people,” she said. “And you’re not supposed to seek access.
"You’re just supposed to be pure and you go to the person you’re writing about and you write the truth. Nobody can do it totally.”
“But everybody gives up something to be able to do a job, a demanding job,” she added. “And being a reporter is a demanding, dangerous job.
"It may be glamorous or put you in harm’s way. I gave up being considered ethical and acceptable, for a while.”
Smith, who was married twice, is survived by several nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held to honour her next year.
