Minor Characters

Character Analysis

Gordon Cole

Gordon Cole (Bert Moorhouse) is one of Cecil B. DeMille's assistants. When he calls up Norma, she thinks he's presenting her with an offer from DeMille to direct her movie, yet she refuses to talk to him because he's just an assistant and she feels DeMille should have called her personally. But, later, we learn that Cole was actually just calling Norma to see if the studio could rent her car for use in a movie. Awkward. So very awkward.

Hedda Hopper

This is yet another cameo by a person playing her actual self. Hedda Hopper was a famous Hollywood gossip columnist, and we see her at the end of the movie, phoning the newspaper from inside Norma Desmond's mansion and dictating the story of the murder. (It's the very tabloid version of the story that Joe warned the audience about at the beginning of the movie.)

Connie

Connie (Gerry Ganzer) is Betty's roommate, but she doesn't play a very prominent role in the movie. All she really does is give Betty the phone when Norma calls to hint at the true nature of her relationship with Joe.

Undertaker

The undertaker (Franklyn Farnum) shows up in order to bury Norma's pet monkey. And that's all you need to know about him.