In the late 1940s, the Cold War between the US and the communist-controlled USSR was beginning
to pick up steam.
On October 20t, 1947, a special congressional committed authorized investigations into alleged
communist influence in Hollywood.
The House Un-American Activities Committee, or the HUAC as it's more commonly known, began
asking numerous public figures, entertainers, and actors fairly straightforward questions.
“Have you or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?”
Whether it was purely out of fear or from a place of patriotism, witnesses started giving
the committee the names of people that they suspected had ties to the Communists and their
sympathizers.
While many people complied with the committee's interrogations, a small group called the 'Hollywood
Ten' put up a bit of resistance.
Every one of these resistors was slapped with obstruction charges and ended up serving prison
sentences.
That's when Hollywood came up with its blacklist policy which effectively banned 325 screenwriters,
directors, and actors who hadn't been cleared by the committee from working in the entertainment
industry.
Some folks still managed to keep working.
A few adopted aliases while others credited their work to other people.
In the 60s, however, the blacklist began to be dismantled, and in 1997, the Writers Guild
of America voted unanimously to correct the writing credits of two dozen films that were
produced during this strange and troubling period.
Join us as we take a look back at some of these public figures, actors, directors, and
producers that were blacklisted back during the era that is now known as the Red Scare.
You'll probably even see a few familiar names that you never knew endured this kind of treatment.
So, let's get started.
Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger was a founding member of the folk band The Weavers, but he was also pretty radical
for his times, and when he was young, he was a card-carrying member of the Communist Party.
Seeger was investigated by the FBI in the 1940s and 50s and was blacklisted after his
name appeared in a pamphlet called 'Red Channels', which listed off suspected and known communists
who worked in the entertainment industry.
Seeger and his band were banned from performing on TV, and the Weavers ended up disbanding
in 1952 after they were pushed out of their recording contract.
In 1955, Seeger was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee to testify.
Seeger refused to invoke his fifth amendment right to not witness against himself, but
he did make an announcement that he would not be answering any questions regarding his
affiliations, philosophical, political, or religious beliefs, or how he voted in any
election.
He further expressed his belief that it would be improper to ask any American these kinds
of questions.
Seeger ended up being hit with ten counts of Contempt of Congress and was sentenced
to a year in jail.
While that ruling was later overturned, he still remained blacklisted from TV until 1968.
Lee Grant
Even though the actress had never been actively involved in Communists politics, she still
ended up being placed on the Hollywood blacklist.
In 1951, just a couple of weeks after the premiere of her first film 'Detective Story',
Grant made several comments critical of the House Un-American Activities Committee investigations
during a speech that she gave at the funeral of a fellow blacklisted actor, Edwards Bromberg.
Her seemingly innocuous comments were quickly made public, and she was eventually called
to testify before the committee.
She was even pressured to name her own husband as a communist.
Grant pleaded the fifth and refused to answer any of their invasive and leading questions.
While she wasn't hit with any jail time, she was banned from appearing in films and television
shows for the next 12 years.
When she was removed from the blacklist in the 60s, she made a triumphant return to film
and wound up being honored with three Oscar nods for acting.
She won one of those for her role in the 1975 film Shampoo.
John Ireland
This fantastic Western Actor is best known for his portrayal of Jed Colby on Rawhide.
And much like the character he played on TV, he wasn't willing to go down without putting
up a fight.
After he was added to Hollywood's blacklist, Ireland ended up suing two television producers
for slander and breach of contract.
During the Red Scare, Ireland was labeled as being 'politically unacceptable, but after
taking his suit to court, he was awarded a large cash settlement.
He later appeared in the hit film Spartacus, which was written by another blacklisted Hollywood
screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo.
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how one unexpected public figure somehow managed to become the target of FBI surveillance despite
having a glowing reputation with the public.
We'll give you a little hint about who it was.
She never saw it coming, and she wouldn't have heard you even if you tried to warn her.
Dalton Trumbo
When the Blacklist first started adding names to its career-killing list, one of the first
names that included in its roster was famed screenwriter Dalton Trumbo.
He had indeed been a member of the Communist Party at one point, but unlike the other members
of the Hollywood Ten, Trumbo refused to answer any of the committee's questions and even
went as far as to call into question the legitimacy of the committee in his testimony.
Trumbo was charged with contempt of Congress and was blacklisted by Hollywood.
For his contempt charges, he was sentenced to serve a year in federal prison.
After he was released, Trumbo had to write under aliases and sell some of his scripts
to the black market just to make ends meet.
During this period, he wrote several classic screenplays such as Gun Crazy and The Brave
One.
His works even were honored with two Academy Awards even though they didn't bear his name.
Naturally, he wasn't able to collect those awards either.
Trumbo's name was removed from the blacklist in 1960 after fellow actor Kirk Douglas and
director Otto Preminger announced that he would be given writing credit for the films
Spartacus and Exodus.
After clearing his name somewhat, Trumbo resumed his career as a Tinseltown screenwriter, but
it wasn't until decades later, in 2011, that the Writer's Guild finally gave him the credit
that he deserved for penning the 1953 Oscar-winning film Roman Holiday.
Lena Horne
As one of the first African American stars on the screen and stage, Lena Horne rose to
fame in the 1940s with a little help from her silky-smooth voice and her strikingly
good looks.
She often faced racism, and eventfully she chose to join a handful of activist groups
who were fighting for racial equality and civil rights.
At the time, many of these groups had a membership roster full of names known to be associated
with the Communist Party.
Even though Horne herself was never a member of the party, she was blacklisted and essentially
found guilty by association after her name was listed in that infamous 'Red Channels'
pamphlet in 1950.
Since she was unable to work in Hollywood anymore, she spent the next several years
touring as a cabaret and nightclub singer.
In an attempt to clean up her name and reputation, she publicly condemned Communism and embarked
on a letter-writing campaign to seek sympathy from prominent figures in the fields of journalism
and entertainment.
Her efforts ended up paying off, and slowly but surely, her reputation was restored.
By the late 50s, she was again making appearances on TV variety shows and releasing hit albums.
Despite being temporarily blacklisted and labeled a national security risk, Horne remained
a political activist and later was involved in the Civil Rights protests of the 1960s.
Helen Keller
This figure might not have been a star of the entertainment industry, but she was still
very famous back in her day.
While the world tends to think of her as a fairly saint-like individual based on her
fascinating life story and how she managed to communicate despite being both blind and
deaf, apparently though, she was pretty radical when it came to her political ideologies and
beliefs.
The FBI monitored Keller fairly extensively and took notice when she sent a birthday greeting
to Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, a prominent member of the communist party, for her 65th birthday.
Orson Welles
The entire time that famed actor, writer, and director Orson Welles was making his trailblazing
movies and radio shows, he was actively being investigated by the FBI for potentially having
allegiances and ties with the Communists and for being politically subversive.
Welles became a target partly because of his progressive political beliefs.
But after his film Citizen Kane was released in 1941, suspicions only continued to grow,
seeing as how the film's main character was essentially just a thinly-cloaked representation
of the anti-Communist news magnate William Randolph Hearst.
The FBI concluded that the film Citizen Kane was Communist propaganda designed to smear
and discredit one of the most prominent anti-communist figures in the United States.
Even though they didn't find any evidence that Welles was, in fact, a communist himself,
the Bureau still added him to their list of persons believed to pose a threat to national
security.
Welles was also listed in that 'Red Channels' pamphlet in the 50s, but by that time, he
had already been in self-imposed exile in Europe for quite some time.
Charlie Chaplin
Even though he was never a member of the Communist Party, Chaplin, who was known for his work
in silent films, became a target of the United States Government for his politically subversive
movies and ardent support for left-leaning political causes and ideologies.
With films like Moderns Times, Monsieur Verdoux, and The Great Dictator, Chaplin rallied against
capitalism and industrial society.
The creator of 'Little Tramp' was later labeled a Communist sympathizer when he donated to
the defense fund for the Hollywood Ten and Dalton Trumbo.
The FBI kept close tabs on Chaplin and compiled a document on him that was more than 2,000
pages long.
In 1952, Chaplin, who was a British citizen, was denied a re-entry visa to the US after
taking a trip overseas.
He was told by the House Un-American Activities Committee that he would need to testify before
them to justify his 'moral worth' before he could reenter the country.
Instead of kneeling to the committee's demands, Chaplin instead chose to cut ties with the
US and spend the remainder of his life and career in Europe.
Besides one lone trip to the United States in 1972 to accept an honorary Oscar, Chaplin
never again set foot in America again.
Eddie Albert
The Green Acres star was labeled as a communist after his name was listed in the Red Channels
pamphlet.
Margo, Eddie's wife, was openly aligned with the political left.
Albert was able to overcome these accusations after serving his country heroically in World
War II, although his Mexican-born actress wife's career was never the same.
Well, that about wraps up our list of Celebrities who were blacklisted and accused of being
aligned with the Communist Party and their vision back during the red scare.
Which star were you most surprised to learn faced this kind of scrutiny?
Let us know in the comments section below.
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