21. Some of Hollywood’s most famous performers and creative artists appeared on the blacklist
Besides those already noted, many noted names of screen and literature were blacklisted, with a detrimental effect on their reputations and careers. Dashiell Hammett, the creator of Sam Spade and the Thin Man, appeared on the blacklist. So did writer Lillian Hellmann. Eddie Albert, who gained widespread fame as Oliver Douglas in the rural sitcom Green Acres did so after recovering from years on the blacklist. Blacklisted, Charles Chaplin was refused a visa to return to the United States after a trip to Europe and spent the rest of his life in exile in Switzerland. The noted animator Bill Melendez, a former Disney employee and later responsible for bringing Peanuts to television, spent years on the blacklist.
The Hollywood Blacklist both denied people the right to work in their chosen profession, and drove the careers of many who exploited it. Hedda Hopper used the fear of the blacklist to blackmail studio executives and crush celebrities of whom she disapproved. Politicians labeled those suspected of communist leanings as agents of the Soviets, reporting directly to Moscow. Investigations by the FBI, the NSA, HUAC, and other agencies both in federal and state governments never produced any evidence of such a relationship. American singer and actor Paul Robeson appeared before the HUAC in 1956, and subsequently was blacklisted for many years. During his testimony, Robeson told the committee, “You are the non-patriots, you are the un-Americans, and you ought to be ashamed of yourselves”. The House of Representatives finally disbanded the HUAC in 1975.
Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
“The Un-Americans”. Frank J. Donner. 1967
“The cruel reality of Disney’s world”. Paul Harris, The Observer. November 26, 2006
“Statement of the Committee for the First Amendment”. National Archives. October 21, 1947. Online
“Dalton Trumbo”. Article, Biography. Internet Archive. June 18, 2015
“Hedda Hopper: the woman who scared Hollywood”. Article. The Telegraph. Online
“I’m No Communist”. Humphrey Bogart, Photoplay Magazine. May, 1948
“No Sense of Decency: The Army – McCarthy Hearings”. Robert Shogan. 2009
