Orson Bean Quotes
It's never been written about, but before the blacklist of Dalton Trumbo and the Hollywood Ten, there was a de facto blacklist by Communists in the movie industry, and there were a lot of them.
The Red Scare had affected much of the country. The House Un-American Activities Committee had frightened much of the country claiming that the Communists had infiltrated the government. But when facts and proof were demanded, all they came up with some workers in the Hollywood film industry who had gone to communist meetings and some who had joined the party before the War when The Great Depression was still plaguing the country. The Hollywood and TV executives caved in to the political demagogues and fired and blacklisted not only the communists but those who refused to testify. The actors and musicians could not work for several years until the country came to its senses, but the screenwriters wrote under false names. At least one Academy award was won that way.
Hollywood was actually very diverse but very tolerant. Hoover, an intolerant racist himself, saw the encouragement of civil rights for Blacks as support of Communism because the Communist Party made a major issue over American Racism. Most Communists were also opposed to racial discrimination, but most of those advocating an end to discrimination were not communists although Southern Politicians almost always claimed that they were.
The Red Scare had affected the country. The House Un-American Activities Committee had frightened much of the country claiming that the Communists had infiltrated the government. But when facts and proof were demanded, they only came up with some workers in the Hollywood film industry who had gone to communist meetings and some who had joined the party before the War when The Great Depression was still plaguing the country. The Hollywood and TV executives caved in to the political demagogues and fired and blacklisted not only the communists but those who refused to testify. The actors and musicians could not work for several years until the country came to its senses, but the screenwriters wrote under false names. At least one Academy award was won that way.
The film won 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture. However, the Political Red Scare, Congressional Investigations, McCarthyism, and Hollywood Blacklist intimidated the Movie Studios and executives to avoid anything that was sympathetic to any reform views that the Communists also held, like anti racial discrimination, and empathy for the poor.
A theater arts program that operated nationally under the WPA.
The Red Scare had affected much of the country. Congressman Thomas was the Chair of The House Un-American Activities Committee which had frightened much of the country claiming that the Communists had infiltrated the government. But when facts and proof were demanded, they came up with some workers in the Hollywood film industry who had gone to communist meetings and some who had joined the party before the War when The Great Depression was still plaguing the country. The Hollywood and TV executives caved in to the political demagogues and fired and blacklisted not only the communists but those who refused to testify. The actors and musicians could not work for several years until the country came to its senses, but the screenwriters wrote under false names. At least one Academy award was won that way.
Orson Bean was a veteran American film, television, and stage actor, and a comedian, writer, and producer. He was a game show and talk show host and a "mainstay of Los Angeles’s small theater scene." He appeared frequently on several televised game shows from the 1960s through the 1980s and was a longtime panelist on the television game show To Tell the Truth. "A storyteller par excellence", he was a favorite of Johnny Carson, appearing on The Tonight Show over 200 times.
