George Tyne: (Born Martin Buddy
Yarus) This is another murky case with no clear evidence that an admitted
Hollywood communist was forced out of the movie business. Tyne was secretly
active in the Hollywood communist party since at least 1943. He was mostly an
extra, was called before the HUAC
hearings in New York City after actor Lee J. Cobb identified him as a member of
the Communist party. Tyne was one of seven witnesses who refused to answer
questions about whether they had been members of the Party, however, in
refusing to speak to the committee, he failed to invoke the Fifth Amendment,
which led to his being charged with contempt. He was acquitted in 1961 on
technical grounds.
The question is, did George Tyne
have a career in films that could be destroyed by blacklisting? He didn’t have
much of a career before 1952. From 1943 through 1949, Tyne appeared in bit
parts in 30 films and two shorts. He was unaccredited in 22 of the thirty
films. From 1950 through 1951 he appeared in four more films and was
unaccredited in three of them. So for a total of 34 film parts, he was
unaccredited in 26 of them. It is claimed that he moved to New York and
Broadway after being blacklisted in 1952, but that begs the question…..would
anyone have objected to his appearing in another 26 unaccredited roles as an
extra?
There is no evidence that Tyne
was forced to move out of Hollywood, the center of the motion picture business,
he left on his own accord. If anything, Broadway saved his career. He appeared
on Broadway and in off-Broadway productions in 1952, 1954 (2 plays) 1955, 1956 (2 plays) 1957 and 1950
(Two plays). He was employed on the set of Decision Before Dawn as a dialogue
coach and actor.
He returned to Hollywood in the
sixties and remained steadily employed as an extra for three more decades.
Just because someone’s name
appeared in Red Channels, that doesn’t mean they were blacklisted. It just
means there name appeared in Red Channels.
Just because a person said they
were blacklisted doesn’t mean they were. Many people in Hollywood have lied about
being blacklisted over the years.
If a person was actually blacklisted…and not
many were actually blacklisted….it was the studios and TV sponsors who
blacklisted them. Not the United States federal government.
If a person claims the blacklist
ruined their career, they should be able to prove they had a career before the
blacklist.