William Randolph Hearst Jr.

William Randolph Hearst Jr. (January 27, 1908 – May 14, 1993) was an American businessman and newspaper publisher. He was the second son of the publisher William Randolph Hearst. He became editor-in-chief of Hearst Newspapers after the death of his father in 1951. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his interview with Soviet premier, Nikita Khrushchev, and associated commentaries in 1955.

William Randolph Hearst Jr.
W.R. Hearst Jr. and his wife in 1930 on a visit in Berlin
Born	(1908-01-27)January 27, 1908 Manhattan, New York
Died	May 14, 1993(1993-05-14) (aged 85) Hillsborough, California
Resting place	Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, California, US
Occupation	Businessman and Newspaper Publisher
Employer	Hearst Corporation
Spouse(s)	Alma Walker (div.) Lorelle McCarver (div.) Austine McDonnell (d. 1991)[1]
Children	William Randolph Hearst III John Augustine Hearst
Parent(s)	William Randolph Hearst Millicent Willson Hearst

Hearst attended the University of California, Berkeley and was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.[2]

Hearst was instrumental in restoring some measure of family control to the Hearst Corporation, which under his father's will is (and will continue to be while any grandchild alive at William Randolph Hearst Sr.'s death in 1951 is still living) controlled by a board of thirteen trustees, five from the Hearst family and eight Hearst executives. When tax laws changed to prevent the foundations his father had established from continuing to own the corporation, he arranged for the family trust (with the same trustees) to buy the shares and for longtime chief executive Richard E. Berlin, who was going senile, to be eased out to become chairman of the trustees for a period. Later, William Randolph Hearst Jr. himself headed the trust and served as chairman of the executive committee of the corporation. Today, his branch of the family is represented on the trustees by his son, William Randolph Hearst III.

Hearst was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. He makes a brief appearance in the musical adaptation of Newsies as Bill.

Hearst was married 3 times. His wives were:

• Alma Virginia Walker (Dec. 20, 1906 in Minneapolis, Minnesota - Mar. 24, 1972 in Monterey, California) They were married from 1929 until their divorce in 1933.
• Lorelle McCarver (Sep. 20, 1911 inCincinnati, Ohio - Dec. 14, 1999 in Weston, Connecticut) They were married from 1933 until their divorce in 1944.
• Austine Byrne McDonnell (Jan. 28, 1920 in Boston, Massachusetts - Dec. 15, 1991 in New York City, New York) They were married from 1948 until her death in 1991. They had two sons, William Randolph Hearst III (1949-) and John Augustine Hearst (1952-).[3]

References

1. "William Randolph Hearst Jr., 85, Journalist, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
2. "William Randolph Hearst Jr". www.britannica.com.
3. "Austine M. Hearst, 72, Newspaper Columnist". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 May 2020.

• Washington Post; May 15, 1993; William Randolph Hearst Jr., Newspaper Editor, Dies at Age 85. William Randolph Hearst Jr., editor in chief of the Hearst newspapers and an heir to the publishing empire established by his father, died today. He was 85. He died in New York, said George Raine, assistant city editor at the San Francisco Examiner, flagship newspaper of the Hearst chain. Hearst, the second of five sons born to William Randolph and Millicent Willson Hearst, found his calling as a reporter and editor. He shared the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting in 1956.
• Michael Cieply and Lindsay Chaney; The Hearsts: family and empire: the later years. ISBN 0-671-24765-4.

External links

• Guide to the William Randolph Hearst, Jr. Papers at The Bancroft Library
• William Randolph Hearst Jr. at Find a Grave