Victor Kilian, actor. Kilian’s case very much fits into the bigger
picture of Hollywood in the 1950s. The studios offered up bit players to HUAC,
like Kilian, and protected their big-name stars who produced money for them, like
Gene Kelly. Kilian appeared as an extra
in 103 films from 1929 through 1949. Six of those were shorts. Of the remaining
97 films, he was unaccredited in 35 of them. From 1950 through 1959 he was in
three television programs and 13 films of which he was unaccredited in 7 of
them. He appeared in three Broadway productions from 1957 through late 1959.
Kilian was 61 years old in 1952 when he was supposedly banned from continuing
his career as a film extra, so the question is how many parts were open to him
at that point?
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.