The Hollywood Blacklist Myth : Doubtfully blacklisted: Will Lee

Doubtfully blacklisted: Will Lee

Will Lee is probably best known as Mr. Hooper on the popular children's show Sesame Street. In the 1940s he joined the Actor's Laboratory, a West Coast front for the Communist party. He was called before the HUAC on February 20, 1948. Among other things Lee was asked if he had appeared in a production called “Fun in Hollywood” and he denied he did. At that, Richard Combs, the chief counsel said “This places (the communist newspaper) the People World in an embarrassing situation. It says you did” When he was dismissed’ a dumbfounded Lee remained in the witness chair until a policeman removed him.

According to endless accounts, at this point, Lee was blacklisted. But blacklisted from what? Almost his entire film and television career, what little of it there was, consisted of uncredited bit parts. He made no films or television appearances between 1957, after the supposed blacklisting era had ended, and 1962.

He had virtually no career even in the 1960s. From 1960 through 1969, he only worked in the years 1965, (In minor roles in one made for TV movies and two TV shows) 1964 (He had two small TV roles for the entire year) and one film role in 1963, as a waiter with no speaking role. In total, from 1940 through 1959, he made 18 appearance son film. He was uncredited in 9 of them and had no speaking parts in 3 more. How do you get blacklisted from a career like that?

1940 Stage play Plat Heavenly Express

Stage play Night Music

1941 Whistling in the Dark (His first film)

1941 Melody Lane

1941 Babes on Broadway Shorty (Uncredited)

1941 Ball of Fire

1942 Saboteur (Uncredited)

1942 Stage play The Strings, My Lord, Are False

Stage play Lily of the Valley

1943-1944 US Army Service

1945 No productions (prior to supposed blacklisting)

1946 No productions (prior to supposed blacklisting)

1947 Brute Force (Played a convict in Chow Line)

Stage Play As We Forgive Our Debtors

1948 Casbah (minor character)

1948 They Live by Night (minor character)

1948 A Song Is Born (Uncredited)

Force of Evil Waiter (Uncredited)

Stage Play Strange Bedfellows

1949 The Life of Riley (Uncredited)

1949 The Lone Wolf and His Lady (Uncredited)

1950 Backfire (Uncredited)

1950 Shakedown (Uncredited)

1950 Dick Tracy (TV Show)

1950 The Philco Television Playhouse

1952 Stage Play: The Shrike (With Communists Howard DaSilva, Jack Gilford, Herschel Bernardi, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis

1953 Little Fugitive (Unnamed Photographer)

1954 No productions

1956 As the World Turns (TV)

1957 No productions

1958 No Productions

1959 Stage Play, Once upon mattress

The problems we have with the Hollywood left

The problem we have with the Hollywood left is it's the notion that accepting differences is no longer good enough, you have to be complicit in them. The problem we have with the Hollywood left it's the notion that any differing opinion is a threat to your very way of existence but never the opposite. The problem we have with the Hollywood left is the blatant hypocrisy of claiming to care about democracy well on abashedly striving to take control of every step of the political process. The problem we have with the Hollywood left is the notion that any idea or opinion outside of your own ideology is morally repugnant and therefore needs to be silenced. The problem we have with the Hollywood left is the notion that your goals must be achieved using everyone resources regardless on whether they agree. The problem we have with the Hollywood left is their supporting of rights situationally when convenient and the outright rejection of those rights when it's in it's the inconvenient for you. The problem we have with the Hollywood left isthat somehow you know what's best for me enough to allow the government to make that choice for me The problem we have with the Hollywood left it's their failure to see the irony in labeling anyone different than yourself as an extremist or a fundamentalist. Originally written by Jason Blood. Edited for this page.

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.

For the most part, front organizations assumed the character of either a mass or membership organization or a paper organization. Both solicited and used names of prominent persons. Literally hundreds of groups and organizations have either been infiltrated or organized primarily to accomplish the purposes of promoting the interests of the Soviet Union in the United States, the promotion of Soviet war and peace aims, the exploitation of Negroes in the United States, work among foreign-language groups, and to secure a favorable viewpoint toward the Communists in domestic, political, social, and economic issues. The first requisite for front organizations is an idealistic sounding title. Hundreds of such organizations have come into being and have gone out of existence when their true purposes have become known or exposed while others with high-sounding names are continually springing up. J. Edgar Hoover on the subject of Communist front organizations. March 26, 1947