In the early 20th century BT (before television), long before the rise of fan and gossip programs like "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "The View" and "Live! With Kelly and Michael," celebrity magazines served as the core publicity outlets for a growing entertainment industry-especially Hollywood studios. From 1911 on, a slew of fawning magazines with names like Photoplay, Screenland, Motion Picture Magazine, Pic-turegoer, Radio Mirror, Modern Screen and many other cheaply printed pulps filled newsstands with covers of close-up, nuanced come-hither portraits featuring ingenue silver-screen celebrities. Fan magazines were wellsprings of the preposterously profitable cult of celebrity, encouraging fame worship and ensuring ongoing newsstand sales.
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