Danny Getchell
Created by James Ellroy
Fans of James Ellroy's L.A. Confidential may recall the pivotal role that the notorious Hollywood scandal sheet Hush-Hush played in the sprawling neo-noir 1990 classic about crooked cops set loose in 1950's L.A. And more than a few people probably recall Danny's Devito's sublime performance as sleazy Sid Hudgeons, a writer for the rag in the 1997 film adaptation.
Perhaps in tribute to DeVito's performance, Ellroy named his new series character DANNY GETCHELL. Getchell's the unctous editor-in-chief and headwriter of Hush-Hush, who appears in a growing string of short stories appearing in the men's mag, Gentlemen's Quarterly. Danny's an ace of alliteration, a hate-filled homophobe joy-juice junkie with the killer instincts of, well, a demon dog, digging up and dishing out dirt on such sin-tillating celebs as Sinatra, Rob Mitchum, Lana Turner and Rock Hudson. Okay, so fact and fiction are a little blurred here, but the stories are a hoot.
The stories are told in a series of reminisces by the weaselly Getchell, from his bed in an AIDS ward, and are only being published by GQ because, Danny claims, he has "an artful array of dirt on Art Cooper--the editor-in-chief." So far, the tales haven't been collected in book form yet, but don't wait. Do yourself a favour, and hunt down the actual issues of GQ they appeared in, right away. It'll be worth it--the stories are chockfull of actual photos of the celebs skulking about, and they all sport primo illustrations by guys like Riccardo Vechhio and Owen Smith.
By the way, there actually was a magazine called Hush-Hush. And Detective Freddie Otash of the LAPD, who appeared in L.A. Confidential, sold dirt to Hush-Hush, and later became a private eye? He was a real guy, too. Evidently Ellroy actually knew him. One can only wonder if someone as slimy as Getchell also once slid across the face of the earth....
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Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.