Wolfson was listed in Red
Channels as a communist. When called before the HUAC in 1955, Wolfson was
defiant and refused to answer the question “Are you a member of the communist
party?”
Wolfson told the press “I think
the purpose of this committee is to throw fear into the theater" but he never explained why the HUAC would
have a problem with the almost completely apolitical theater scene.
Mr.
Tavenner. Were you a member of the Communist Party at the time that you were in Russia?
Mr.
Wolfson. Mr. Chairman, I think that the purpose of this committee is
to throw fear into the theater. I think that it is no accident that you come here at this time, just when
productions are being planned for the fall, actors are being engaged, and plays
are being read. You are trying to throw fear into the theater, and I don't
think the purpose is a correct one or a valid one.
Chairman
Walter. Will you answer the question?
Mr.
Wolfson. Further, I would say that I refuse. Will you state the
question again?
Mr. Tavenner: My question was in
substance this: Were you a member of the Communist Party at the time you were
in Russia?
Mr.
Wolfson. You have no right to inquire into my associations, my
beliefs, and my thoughts.
Chairman
Walter. Never mind the argument, answer the question.
Mr.
Wolfson. May I say it in my own way, Mr. Chairman?
Chairman
Walter. Answer the question, and don't give us an argument. We are
not interested in that.
Mr.
Wolfson. You may not be interested in it but I am interested in giving
the reasons for it.
Chairman
Walter. Now answer the question.
Mr.
Wolfson. I have the right to give the reasons for my refusal to
answer this question, have I not?
Chairman
Walter. After you refuse to answer.
Mr.
Wolfson. I refuse to answer the question and I do it on the right of
my privilege of refusing to bear witness against myself.
Chairman
Walter. All right.
He defied the committee, and
nothing happened to him. His career went on as always. Bear in mind that Wolfson
only had a total of 15 screen acting credits from 1943 through 1976, only two
of those fifteen credits were in movies. For all given purposes he was a stage
actor. From 1923 through 1949, he was a full-time stage actor. He spent 1954
(Threepenny Opera) and 1955 (Guys and Dolls.) in stage. In 1956 he was a
regular on the soap opera “The Edge of Night” In 1958 he appeared on the TV
series “Decoy” In 1959 he appeared in “play of the Week” on TV.
WEASEL TESTIMONY
Mr.
Tavenner. During the period that you were engaged in acting, did you
also, engage in other activities in which the Communist Party had a special
stake and in which it was interested, such as the following:
About the time of the purge by
Stalin in the Soviet Union, in 1938, there appears in the Daily Worker issue of
April 28. 1938, an advertisement in defense of the purge trials in the Soviet
Union, which contained a statement as follows :
The measures taken by the Soviet
Union to preserve and extend its gains and its strength therefore find their
echoes here where we are starting the fixture of the American people on the
preservation of progressive democracy and the unification of our efforts to
prevent the Fascists from strangling the rights of the people.
American liberals must not permit
their outlook on these questions to be confused, nor allow their recognition of
the place of the Soviet Union in the international fight of democracy against
fascism to be destroyed. We call upon them to support the efforts of the Soviet
Union to free itself from insidious internal dangers, principal menace to peace
and democracy.
Mr.
Tavenner. Will you examine the list of those who signed it and state
whether or not your name appeared there.
Mr.
Wolfson. Mr. Counsel, I think the paper speaks for itself, but I am
not going to allow you to inquire into any of my associations, and I refuse to
answer on the basis of my
Mr.
Tavenner. Will you examine the paper and state to the committee what
name you see, the third name from the bottom of the list on the right-hand
column?
Mr.
Wolfson. Mr. Congressman, or Mr. Counsel, anyone could read that for
himself.
Mr.
Tavenner. Well, can you read it?
Mr.
Wolfson. I decline to answer.
Mr.
Scherer Mr. Chairman, I ask you to direct the witness to answer.
Chairman
Walter. I direct you to answer the question.
Mr.
Wolfson. The same answer for the previously stated position.
Mr.
Tavenner. The name at the bottom of this list, third from the bottom, is
Martin Wolfson. Are you the Martin Wolfson whose name appears on this paper?
Mr.
Wolfson. For the same reason, Congressman, I refuse to answer that.
Mr.
Tavenner. At the time that defense was made of the Soviet purges, were
you a member of the Communist Party?
Mr.
Wolfson. The same objection, and the same refusal to answer.
Mr.
Tavenner. Has there been any other activity in the field of acting
which you engaged in, and which you have not told us about? Your experience has been over such a long
period of time, I will try to simplify the question. Were you a member of, or employed
by the Federal Theater project?
Mr.
Wolfson. Yes. I wasn't a member of the project. I was employed by it
for one show.
Mr.
Tavenner. What was that show?
Mr.
Wolfson. It was a Yiddish production called Tailor Becomes a Storekeeper,
I think.
Mr.
Tavenner. The committee has received considerable evidence indicating
the existence among the employees of the Federal Theater project, of organized
groups of the Communist Party. Were you aware of the existence of any such
organized group during the period you were in that play?
Mr.
Wolfson. I think the Federal Theater was one of the greatest things
that ever happened to America, and I think this committee helped to defeat
that. I don't think this committee is here to help the theater, as I have
indicated in the statement of mine.
Mr.
Tavenner. May I ask that the witness be directed to answer the question
?
Mr.
Wolfson. Will you repeat the question again?
Mr.
Tavenner. Were you aware of the existence within the Federal Theater
project of any organized group or groups of the Communist Party while you were
employed by it ?
Mr.
Wolfson. I shall refuse to answer that question for the previously
stated reason.
Mr.
Tavenner. Will you tell the committee whether there was an outgrowth
from the Federal Theater projects of an organization entitled "Theater
Arts Committee"?
Mr.
Wolfson. For the same reason, I shall refuse to answer that question.
Mr.
Tavenner. Were you on the executive board of the Theater Arts Committee
?
Mr.
Wolfson. I shall refuse to answer that for the same reason.
Mr.
Tavenner. Mr. Wolfson, you were an actor over a long period of time.
Will you tell the committee whether or not the Communist Party or any of its
members endeavored to obtain assistance from actors in taking part in causes
that the Communist Party was interested in in the United States and was
endeavoring to promulgate or support?
Mr.
Wolfson. I think that is a question that you know what the answer will
be. I take the same position. I refuse to answer it for the same reason.
Mr.
Tavenner. Do you recall a period of time when the Communist Party was
extremely interested in the trial of Harry Bridges?
Mr.
Wolfson. Yes.
Mr.
Tavenner. Do you recall that Attorney General Biddle of the United
States, in reviewing the record of that case, made a severe indictment of the
Communist Party?
Mr.
Wolfson. I am going to plead the fifth amendment.
Mr. Tavenner. Do you recall that
the Communist Party made a great effort to obtain a reversal of that condemnation
by the Attorney General, which took the form of a letter to the President
requesting that he demand that Attorney General Biddle rescind his decision?
Mr.
Wolfson, My answer is the same.
Mr.
Tavenner. I hand you a photostatic copy of a pamphlet or rather pages
from a pamphlet issued by the National Federation for Constitutional Liberties,
the title of which is "600 Prominent Americans Ask President To rescind
Biddle Decision." Will you look at page 32, and see whether or not your
name is one of those whose support was lent to that project?
(A
document was handed to the witness.)
Mr.
Tavenner. It is on the last page.
Mr.
Wolfson. I plead the fifth amendment.
Mr.
Tavenner. I will call the attention of the chairman to the fact that
the last name appearing in the left-hand column on page 32 is the name of
Martin Wolfson. He is identified as an actor in New York City. Did you sign
that document, Mr. Wolfson ?
Mr.
Wolfson. The answer is the same, Counsel.
Mr.
Tavenner. Did you lend your efforts, Mr. Wolfson, to various peace
appeals that the Communist Party endeavored to foist upon the American public ?
(Witness
consulted with counsel.)
Mr.
Wolfson. I have always been interested in peace because with peace
can an artist develop and can culture develop, which is what we need very
badly. I think we are living in a world today when peace is really a reality,
but by the same token, the fact that this committee asks me that question, puts
me in a position of having to take the fifth amendment in answering, that I
will not answer that because I will not be a witness against myself.
Mr.
Tavenner. It isn't the fact that the committee asks such a question,
is it ? Isn't it the fact that these particular peace appeals were engineered
by the Communist Party for Communist Party purposes and propaganda ?
Mr.
Wolfson. The answer is the same.
Mr.
Tavenner. Did you endorse the Waldorf conference?
Mr.
Wolfson. The same answer.
Mr.
Tavenner. Were you a member of the National Council of the Arts,
Sciences, and Professions ?
Mr.
Wolfson. The same answer.
Mr.
Scherer. Has that been cited as a Communist-front organization, Mr.
Tavenner
Mr.
Tavenner. The Congress on American-Soviet Relations was sponsored by
the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship in December of 1949 and a
program put out by that organization contains the names of a number of
endorsees, including the name of Martin Wolfson, New York. Will you tell the
committee, please, how your name was obtained for use by the National Council
of American-Soviet Friendship, if it was used with your permission?
Mr.
Wolfson. I decline to answer for the previously stated reason.
Mr.
Tavenner. Are you acquainted with a person by the name of Robert
Shayne?
Mr.
Wolfson. I refuse to answer for the same reason.
Mr.
Tavenner. Mr. Shayne's Communist Party name was Robert Grosvenor,
according to his testimony before this committee. Mr. Shayne testified that he
had been a member of the Communist Party and had withdrawn, and he gave the
committee the benefit of facts within his knowledge. In the course of his
testimony, he identified you as a person who appeared at Communist Party
meetings attended by him. Do you recall having appeared at Communist Party meetings
attended by him?
Mr.
Wolfson. I think informing has become a profitable industry as a
result of this committee, I decline to answer that question for the previously
stated reason.
Chairman
Walter. I just can't let this statement go unchallenged. Nobody has
ever made a profit out of testifying for this committee, or before the committee,
and this man received the same witness fees that you will receive after you
testify.
Mr.
Wolfson. Will I receive the loss of 3 weeks' work, Congressman, to
wit, $1,065? And I would like this committee to know that the average income of
the actor is less than $800 a year. This is for the committee to know.
Chairman
Walter. We are talking about witnesses being paid to testify.
Mr.
Wolfson. I lose a very good engagement as a result of this.
Mr.
Scherer: You said the average income is $800, and you are losing $1,200
for this period '
Mr.
Wolfson That is right. You can't figure that, Congressman?
Mr.
Tavenner. Are you now a member of the American Federation of Television
and Radio Artists?
Mr.
Wolfson. I don't think whether I am a member of the union or not is a
concern of this committee. But I shall answer your question — I am.
Mr.
Tavenner. How long have you been a member of it ?
Mr.
Wolfson. One of the things that I fought for in my career was the
organization of radio, and I have been a member of it since its inception.
Mr.
Tavenner. Since its inception have you endeavored to assist the
Communist Party in any manner in promulgating its policies or its plans within
that organization or any of its predecessors?
(Witness consulted with counsel.)
Mr.
Wolfson. I have been a good member of this union. I have been against
anything that tends to put the actor in a straitjacket of frightened conformity.
Mr.
Tavenner. Have you tried to impose the Communist Party line upon the
organization?
Mr.
Wolfson. I refuse to answer your question on the grounds previously
stated.
Mr.
Tavenner. Have you played any part in an effort to impose upon your
group, in which you say you are so interested, any decision of the Communist
Party ?
(Witness consulted with counsel.)
Mr.
Wolfson. My union activities are a matter of record, but I decline to
answer your question for the same reasons.
Mr.
Tavenner. You spoke of what is a matter of record. Will you tell the
committee whether or not it is a matter of record that caucus groups composed
of members of the Communist Party within the American Federation of Television
and Radio Artists were held ?
Mr.
Wolfson. I decline to answer that question for the same reason.
Mr.
Tavenner. Well, if it is not a matter of record, do you know of the
holding of such caucus meetings ?
Mr.
Wolfson. I decline to answer for the same reason.
Mr.
Tavenner. Were you present at any time during such a caucus ?
Mr.
Wolfson. I decline to answer for the same reason.
Mr.
Tavenner. At the time you state that you were such a good member of the
union, were you also a member of the Communist Party ?
Mr.
Wolfson. I decline to answer for the same reason.
Mr.
Tavenner. Were you also a member of Actors Equity?
Mr.
Wolfson. I repeat that I think that this committee has no right to
ask me my associations, but I shall answer that. I am a member of Actors
Equity.
Mr.
Tavenner. How long have you been a member ?
Mr.
Wolfson. Since 1927.
Mr.
Tavenner. Have you attended any caucus meetings of the Communist Party
within Actors Equity ?
Mr.
Wolfson. I shall refuse to answer that for the previously stated
reason.
Mr.
Tavenner. Are you a member of the Communist Party now ?
Mr.
Wolfson. Naturally I am going to answer that by the same way, and I
refuse to testify against myself.
Mr.
Tavenner. Up to this point we have been speaking exclusively of your
profession of stage acting. Have you engaged in television work as an actor ?
Mr.
Wolfson. Very little.
Mr.
Tavenner. What was your last employment in television ?
Mr.
Wolfson. A program called American Heritage, and this I appeared in at
the time when it seemed that the blacklist was about to be lifted and which has
been reimposed by the appearance of this committee.
Mr.
Tavenner. When did you appear on that program ?
Mr.
Wolfson. Several months ago, and I don't remember exactly when.
Mr.
Tavenner. Where?
Mr.
Wolfson. In New York.
Mr.
Tavenner. By whom were you employed ?
Mr.
Wolfson. I think it was the National Broadcasting Co., but I am not
sure.
Mr.
Tavenner. What was your television participation prior to that?
Mr.
Wolfson. An interview, I think, once.
Mr.
Tavenner. As an actor ?
Mr.
Wolfson. I did very little.
Mr.
Tavenner. What was your television participation as an actor prior to
the interview you mentioned ?
Mr.
Wolfson. It must have been 3 or 4 years before that, when I was in a
play, and 1 don't remember the name of it.
Mr.
Tavenner. I have before me a photostatic copy of the Daily Worker of
January 26, 1950, which reflects that you took part in a play called Trial of
the Traitors. I don't believe you told us about that. Do you recall it ?
(Witness
consulted with counsel.)
Mr.
Wolfson. Where was this performed?
Mr.
Tavenner. Capitol Hotel.
(Witness
consulted with counsel.)
Mr.
Wolfson. I am going to invoke my constitutional privilege and refuse
to answer the question.
Chairman
Walter. I direct you to answer the question.
Mr.
Wolfson. Then I will not bear witness against myself.
Mr.
Scherer Was there anything about your participation in that play
which would tend to incriminate you, witness?
Mr.
Wolfson. My position is the same, Congressman.
Mr.
Tavenner. Was that play written by Jerome Chodorov?
Mr.
Wolfson. May I see that copy?
(A document was handed to the witness.)
Mr.
Wolfson. I shall stand on my constitutional right and refuse to answer
that question for the reasons previously stated.
Mr.
Tavenner. I desire to offer the document in evidence and ask that
it be marked "Wolfson Exhibit No. 4" for identification only.
Chairman. Let it
be received.
Mr.
Tavenner. Are you acquainted with Jerome Chodorov?
Mr.
Wolfson, I don't think that you have a right to inquire into my
associations and I shall plead the fifth.
Wolfson was listed in Red Channels as a communist. When called
before the HUAC in 1955, Wolfson was defiant and refused to answer the question
“Are you a member of the communist party?”
Wolfson told the press “I think the purpose of this committee is
to throw fear into the theater" but he never explained why the
HUAC would have a problem with the almost completely apolitical theater
scene.
Mr. Tavenner. Were you a member of the
Communist Party at the time that you were in Russia ?
Mr. Wolfson. Mr. Chairman, I think
that the purpose of this committee is to throw fear into the theater. I think
that it is no accident that you come here at this time, just when
productions are being planned for the fall, actors are being engaged, and plays
are being read. You are trying to throw fear into the theater, and I don't
think the purpose is a correct one or valid one.
Chairman Walter. Will you answer the question ?
Mr. Wolfson. Further, I would say that I refuse. Will you state the question again ?
Mr. Tavenner: My question was in substance
this : Were you a member of the Communist Party at the time you were in Russia
?
Mr. Wolfson. You have no right to inquire into my associations, my beliefs, and my thoughts.
Chairman Walter. Never mind the argument, answer the question.
Mr. Wolfson. May I say it in my own way, Mr. Chairman?
Chairman Walter. Answer the question, and don't give us an argument. We are not interested in that.
Mr. Wolfson. You may not be interested in it but I am interested in giving the reasons for it.
Chairman Walter. Now answer the question.
Mr. Wolfson. I have the right to give the reasons for my refusal to answer this question, have I not ?
Chairman Walter. After you refuse to answer.
Mr. Wolfson. I refuse to answer the question and I do it on the right of my privilege of refusing to bear witness against myself.
Chairman Walter. All right.
He defied the committee, and nothing happened to him. His career
went on as always. Bear in mind that Wolfson only had a total of 15 screen
acting credits from 1943 through 1976, only two of those fifteen credits were
in movies. For all given purposes he was a stage actor. From 1923 through 1949,
he was a full time stage actor. He spent 1954 (Threepenny Opera) and 1955 (Guys
and Dolls.) in stage. In 1956 he was a regular on the soap opera “The Edge of
Night” In 1958 he appeared on the TV series “Decoy” In 1959 he appeared in
“play of the Week” on TV.
WEASEL TESTIMONEY
Mr. Tavenner. During the period that
you were engaged in acting, did you also engage in other activities in which
the Communist Party had a special stake and in which it was interested, such as
the following:
About the time of the purge by Stalin in the Soviet Union, in
1938, there appears in the Daily Worker issue of April 28. 1938, an
advertisement in defense of the purge trials in the Soviet Union, which
contained a statement as follows :
The measures taken by the Soviet Union to preserve and extend its
gains and its strength therefore find their echoes here where we are starting
the fixture of the American people on the preservation of progressive democracy
and the unification of our efforts to prevent the Fascists from strangling the
rights of the people.
American liberals must not permit their outlook on these questions
to be confused, nor allow their recognition of the place of the Soviet Union in
the international fight of democracy against fascism to be destroyed. We call
upon them to support the efforts of the Soviet Union to free itself from
insidious internal dangers, principal menace to peace and democracy.
Mr. Tavenner. Will you examine the list of those who signed it and state whether or not your name appeared there.
Mr. Wolfson. Mr. Counsel, I think the paper speaks for itself, but I am not going to allow you to inquire into any of my associations, and I refuse to answer on the basis of my
Mr. Tavenner. Will you examine the paper and state to the committee what name you see, the third name from the bottom of the list on the right-hand column ?
Mr. Wolfson. Mr. Congressman, or Mr. Counsel, anyone could read that for himself.
Mr. Tavenner. Well, can you read it ?
Mr. Wolfson. I decline to answer.
Mr. Scherer Mr. Chairman, I ask you to direct the witness to answer.
Chairman Walter. I direct you to answer the question.
Mr. Wolfson. The same answer for the
previously stated position.
Mr. Tavenner. The name at the bottom of
this list, third from the bottom, is Martin Wolfson. Are you the Martin Wolfson
whose name appears on this paper ?
Mr. Wolfson. For the same reason,
Congressman, I refuse to answer that.
Mr. Tavenner. At the time that defense
was made of the Soviet purges, were you a member of the Communist Party ?
Mr. Wolfson. The same objection, and
the same refusal to answer.
Mr. Tavenner. Has there been any
other activity in the field of acting which you engaged in, and which you have
not told us about? Your experience has been over such a long period
of time, I will try to simplify the question. Were you a member of, or employed
by the Federal Theater project?
Mr. Wolfson. Yes. I wasn't a
member of the project. I was employed by it for one show.
Mr. Tavenner. What was that show ?
Mr. Wolfson. It was a Yiddish production called Tailor Becomes a Storekeeper, I think.
Mr. Tavenner. The committee has received considerable evidence indicating the existence among the employees of the Federal Theater project, of organized groups of the Communist Party. Were you aware of the existence of any such organized group during the period you were in that play ?
Mr. Wolfson. I think the Federal Theater was one of the greatest things that ever happened to America, and I think this committee helped to defeat that. I don't think this committee is here to help the theater, as I have indicated in the statement of mine.
Mr. Tavenner. May I ask that the witness be directed to answer the question ?
Mr. Wolfson. Will you repeat the question again ?
Mr. Tavenner. Were you aware of the existence within the Federal Theater project of any organized group or groups of the Communist Party while you were employed by it ?
Mr. Wolfson. I shall refuse to answer that question for the previously stated reason.
Mr. Tavenner. Will you tell the committee whether there was an outgrowth from the Federal Theater projects of an organization entitled "Theater Arts Committee"?
Mr. Wolfson. For the same reason I shall refuse to answer that question.
Mr. Tavenner. Were you on the executive board of the Theater Arts Committee ?
Mr. Wolfson. I shall refuse to answer that for the same reason.
Mr. Tavenner. Mr. Wolfson, you were an actor over a long period of time. Will you tell the committee whether or not the Communist Party or any of its members endeavored to obtain assistance from actors in taking part in causes that the Communist Party was interested in in the United States and was endeavoring to promulgate or support ?
Mr. Wolfson. I think that is a question that you know what the answer will be. I take the same position. I refuse to answer it for the same reason.
Mr. Tavenner. Do you recall a period of time when the Communist Party was extremely interested in the trial of Harry Bridges ?
Mr. Wolfson. Yes.
Mr. Tavenner. Do you recall that
Attorney General Biddle of the United States, in reviewing the record of that
case, made a severe indictment of the Communist Party ?
Mr. Wolfson. I am going to plead the fifth amendment.
Mr. Tavenner. Do you recall that the Communist Party made a great
effort to obtain a reversal of that condemnation by the Attorney General, which
took the form of a letter to the President requesting that he demand that
Attorney General Biddle rescind his decision?
Mr. Wolfson, My answer is the same.
Mr. Tavenner. I hand you a photostatic copy of a pamphlet, or rather pages from a pamphlet issued by the National Federation for Constitutional Liberties, the title of which is "600 Prominent Americans Ask President To rescind Biddle Decision." Will you look at page 32, and see whether or not your name is one of those whose support was lent to that project?
(A document was handed to the witness.)
Mr. Tavenner. It is on the last page.
Mr. Wolfson. I plead the fifth amendment.
Mr. Tavenner. I will call the attention of the chairman to the fact that the last name appearing in the left-hand column on page 32 is the name of Martin Wolfson. He is identified as an actor in New York City. Did you sign that document, Mr. Wolfson ?
Mr. Wolfson. The answer is the same, Counsel.
Mr. Tavenner. Did you lend your efforts, Mr. Wolfson, to various peace appeals that the Communist Party endeavored to foist upon the American public ?
(Witness consulted with counsel.)
Mr. Wolfson. I have always been interested in peace because with peace can an artist develop and can culture develop, which is what we need very badly. I think we are living in a world today when peace is really a reality, but by the same token, the fact that this committee asks me that question, puts me in a position of having to take the fifth amendment in answering, that I will not answer that because I will not be a witness against myself.
Mr. Tavenner. It isn't the fact that the committee asks such a question, is it ? Isn't it the fact that these particular peace appeals were engineered by the Communist Party for Communist Party purposes and propaganda ?
Mr. Wolfson. The answer is the same.
Mr. Tavenner. Did you endorse the Waldorf conference?
Mr. Wolfson. The same answer.
Mr. Tavenner. Were you a member of the National Council of the Arts, Sciences, and Professions ?
Mr. Wolfson. The same answer.
Mr. Scherer. Has that been cited as a Communist-front organization, Mr. Tavenner
Mr. Tavenner. The Congress on American-Soviet Relations was sponsored by the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship in December of 1949 and a program put out by that organization contains the names of a number of endorsees, including the name of Martin Wolfson, New York. Will you tell the committee, please, how your name was obtained for use by the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship, if it was used with your permission?
Mr. Wolfson. I decline to answer for the previously stated reason.
Mr. Tavenner. Are you acquainted with a person by the name of Robert Shayne ?
Mr. Wolfson. I refuse to answer for the same reason.
Mr. Tavenner. Mr. Shayne's Communist Party name was Robert Grosvenor, according to his testimony before this committee. Mr. Shayne testified that he had been a member of the Communist Party and had withdrawn, and he gave the committee the benefit of facts within his knowledge. In the course of his testimony, he identified you as a person who appeared at Communist Party meetings attended by him. Do you recall having appeared at Communist Party meetings attended by him ?
Mr. Wolfson. I think informing has become a profitable industry as a result of this committee, I decline to answer that question for the previously stated reason.
Chairman Walter. I just can't let this statement go unchallenged. Nobody has ever made a profit out of testifying for this committee, or before the committee, and this man received the same witness fees that you will receive after you testify.
Mr. Wolfson. Will I receive the loss
of 3 weeks' work, Congressman, to wit, $1,065? And I would like this committee
to know that the average income of the actor is less than $800 a year. This is
for the committee to know.
Chairman Walter. We are talking about witnesses being paid to testify.
Mr. Wolfson. I lose a very good engagement as a result of this.
Mr. Scherer: You said the average income is $800, and you are losing $1,200 for this period '
Mr. Wolfson That is right. You can't figure that, Congressman?
Mr. Tavenner. Are you now a member of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists?
Mr. Wolfson. I don't think whether
I am a member of the union or not is a concern of this committee. But I shall
answer your question — I am.
Mr. Tavenner. How long have you been a member of it ?
Mr. Wolfson. One of the things that I fought for in my career was the organization of radio, and I have been a member of it since its inception.
Mr. Tavenner. Since its inception have you endeavored to assist the Communist Party in any manner in promulgating its policies or its plans within that organization or any of its predecessors?
(Witness consulted with counsel.)
Mr. Wolfson. I have been a good member of this union. I have been against anything that tends to put the actor in a strait jacket of frightened conformity.
Mr. Tavenner. Have you tried to impose the Communist Party line upon the organization ?
Mr. Wolfson. I refuse to answer
your question on the grounds previously stated.
Mr. Tavenner. Have you played any part in an effort to impose upon your group, in which you say you are so interested, any decision of the Communist Party ?
(Witness consulted with counsel.)
Mr. Wolfson. My union activities are a matter of record, but I decline to answer your question for the same reasons.
Mr. Tavenner. You spoke of what is a matter of record. Will you tell the committee whether or not it is a matter of record that caucus groups composed of members of the Communist Party within the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists were held ?
Mr. Wolfson. I decline to answer that question for the same reason.
Mr. Tavenner. Well, if it is not a matter of record, do you know of the holding of such caucus meetings ?
Mr. Wolfson. I decline to answer for the same reason.
Mr. Tavenner. Were you present at any time during such a caucus ?
Mr. Wolfson. I decline to answer for the same reason.
Mr. Tavenner. At the time you state that you were such a good member of the union, were you also a member of the Communist Party ?
Mr. Wolfson. I decline to answer for the same reason.
Mr. Tavenner. Were you also a member of Actors Equity?
Mr. Wolfson. I repeat that I think that this committee has no right to ask me my associations, but I shall answer that. I am a member of Actors Equity.
Mr. Tavenner. How long have you been a member ?
Mr. Wolfson. Since 1927.
Mr. Tavenner. Have you attended any caucus meetings of the Communist Party within Actors Equity ?
Mr. Wolfson. I shall refuse to answer that for the previously stated reason.
Mr. Tavenner. Are you a member of the Communist Party now ?
Mr. Wolfson. Naturally I am going to answer that by the same way, and I refuse to testify against myself.
Mr. Tavenner. Up to this point we have been speaking exclusively of your profession of stage acting. Have you engaged in television work as an actor ?
Mr. Wolfson. Very little.
Mr. Tavenner. What was your last employment in television ?
Mr. Wolfson. A program called American Heritage, and this I appeared in at the time when it seemed that the blacklist was about to be lifted and which has been reimposed by the appearance of this committee.
Mr. Tavenner. When did you appear on that program ?
Mr. Wolfson. Several months ago, and I don't remember exactly when.
Mr. Tavenner. Where?
Mr. Wolfson. In New York.
Mr. Tavenner. By whom were you employed ?
Mr. Wolfson. I think it was the National Broadcasting Co., but I am not sure.
Mr. Tavenner. What was your television participation prior to that?
Mr. Wolfson. An interview, I think, once.
Mr. Tavenner. As an actor ?
Mr. Wolfson. I did very little.
Mr. Tavenner. What was your television participation as an actor prior to the interview you mentioned ?
Mr. Wolfson. It must have been 3 or 4 years before that, when I was in a play, and 1 don't remember the name of it.
Mr. Tavenner. I have before me a photostatic copy of the Daily Worker of January 26, 1950, which reflects that you took part in a play called Trial of the Traitors. I don't believe you told us about that. Do you recall it ?
(Witness consulted with counsel.)
Mr. Wolfson. Where was this performed?
Mr. Tavenner. Capitol Hotel.
(Witness consulted with counsel.)
Mr. Wolfson. I am going to invoke my constitutional privilege and refuse to answer the question.
Chairman Walter. I direct you to answer the question.
Mr. Wolfson. Then I will not bear witness against myself.
Mr. Scherer Was there anything about your participation in that play which would tend to incriminate you, witness?
Mr. Wolfson. My position is the same, Congressman.
Mr. Tavenner. Was that play written by Jerome Chodorov ?
Mr. Wolfson. May I see that copy ?
(A document was handed to the witness.)
Mr. Wolfson. I shall stand on my constitutional right and refuse to answer that question for the reasons previously stated.
Mr. Tavenner. I desire to offer the document in evidence and ask that it be marked "Wolfson Exhibit No. 4" for identification only.
Chairman. Let it be received.
Mr. Tavenner. Are you acquainted with Jerome Chodorov?
Mr. Wolfson, I don't think that you have a right to inquire into my associations, and I shall plead the fifth.