Joshua Shelley: To be very clear, if Shelley was blacklisted,
it was the studios who blacklisted him because of his union activities within
the Actor Guild. However, if in fact Shelley was ever blacklisted (He was named
as a communist union activist by Counter Attack Magazine in 1953) he was a very
busy blacklisted actor. Unlike most
actors, he was seldom unemployed in the 1950s.
It should also be made clear that Shelley was, for the first
25 years of his career, a stage actor. He had been in five broadways plays prior
to 1950 and was steadily employed on stage in Broadway from 1944 through 1949. He
had 4 TV credits prior to 1950 and 2 flim credits. Of his 71 screen credits
over the length of his career, only 4 were film.
In August of 1955 Shelley was called before the HUAC. He was
arrogant and combative, lying to the committee that he had been in “Thousands
of radio shows and hundreds of TV and stage shows.” He refused to say if he was a Communist
working in the Hollywood studio unions and chastised the Committee for “trying
to bring fear into the ranks of the Actors Equity”
1950
Repertory Theatre (TV Series)
Starlight Theatre (TV Series)
Don Ameche's Musical
Playhouse (TV Series)
The Liar (May 18, 1950 - May 27, 1950)
1949-1951
Studio One in Hollywood (TV Series)
1951-1952
Danger (TV Series)
Four Twelves Are 48 (Jan 17, 1951 - Jan 18, 1951)
1952
Police Story (TV Series)
Schlitz Playhouse (TV Series)
The Plot to Kidnap General Washington (TV Movie)
Treasury Men in Action (TV Series)
Mister Peepers (TV Series)
The Doctor (TV Series)
Omnibus (TV Series)
Video Theatre (TV Series)
1954
On Your Toes (Oct 11, 1954 - Dec 04, 1954)Stage play
The Girl in Pink Tights (Mar 05, 1954 - Jun 12, 1954)Stage play
1955
Play Phoenix '55 (May 23, 1955 - Jul 17, 1955) Stage play
1957
Play Simply Heavenly (Aug 20, 1957 - Oct 12, 1957) Stage play
Directed
1958
Decoy (TV Series)
The Plymouth Playhouse (TV Series)
1959
Play of the Week (TV Series) Director