Herschel Bernardi, actor. One of the many
suspicious claims of being blacklisted come from Bernardi. Prior to the 1950s,
Bernardi had only three screen credits, one as an uncredited doorman and two
Yiddish audience films with limited distribution.
A homely fellow, he was not
leading man material, which limited his options. Because of the huge demand,
from 1950 until the end of his career three decades later, he worked primarily
in voice-over for commercials and cartoon. Bernardi made a tape recording of
himself doing nearly two dozen different voices, then "jumped on my motor
scooter and went from agency to agency selling myself."
From 1955 through 1958, he worked
steadily as “Utility face” on "Matinee Theater," appearing 22 on
the daytime drama.
Bernardi said he was blacklisted
in 1953, but only by CBS television because he had once been a member of the
Actors Lab, a Communist front in LA. He later modified his Blacklisting claim
to being blacklisted by CBS television and then modified that, saying that the
blacklisting only lasted for two seasons.
″In those years, each network had
its own blacklist, and I was on CBS’. I inadvertently found out when I lost
three jobs in a row. A friend informed me that my credentials had been checked
and said, ’Your name came back dirty. I wasn’t well enough know to be hurt by
it, I was pretty small fish. I didn’t suffer much, I was still able to do
commercials.”
Again, prior to his supposed
Blacklisting in 1953, Bernardi had never appeared on television and had a
minor, uncredited role in a film. So what he was blacklisted from isn’t
clear.
1959
1001 Arabian Nights (voice over)
1958
Murder by Contract
M Squad (TV Series)
The Executioner
Schlitz Playhouse (TV Series)
Zorro (TV Series)
Matinee Theatre (TV Series)
State Trooper (TV Series)
he Court of Last Resort (TV
Series)
Mike Hammer (TV Series)
Harbor Command (TV Series)
The Walter Winchell File (TV
Series)
1957
Studio 57 (TV Series)
1955
He toured Jewish theater in 1955
and in 1957, he toured as The Hershel Bernardi Show
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.