The Hollywood Blacklist Myth : Ossie Davis was never blacklisted

Ossie Davis was never blacklisted

Stage actor Ossie Davis was named as a communist in Red Channels in 1953. In 1958 he subpoenaed to testify at a New York HUAC hearing. At no time in the decades of 1950s was he out of work.

1959

A Raisin in the Sun (Belasco Theatre, 1959) – Walter Lee Younger (replaced Sidney Poitier)

1957

Jamaica (Imperial Theatre, 1957) – Cicero

Montgomery Footprints (Local 1199, 1957)

writer

The Union Democracy Built (Local 1199, 1957)

writer

1956

*No Time for Sergeants (Alvin Theatre, 1956) – A Lieutenant (also Asst. Stage Manager, replaced Earle Hyman)

What Can You Say to Mississippi (Local 1199, 1956)

Writer

1955

Kraft Theatre (TV Series)

The Emperor Jones

The Emperor Jones (TV Movie)

The People of Clarendon County, Chicago: Third World Press, 2007 (Local 1199, 1955)

writer

1953

The Joe Louis Story

(uncredited)

Touchstone (The Music Box, 1953) – Dr. Joseph Clay

The Big Deal (New Playwrights Company, Yugoslav Hall, 1953)

writer

1952

Jezebel’s Husband (Westport, CT, pre-Broadway tryout tour, 1952)

Alice in Wonder (Elks Theatre, 1952)

Writer

1951

Fourteen Hours (uncredited)

Showtime, U.S.A. (TV Series)

The Royal Family (City Center)

The Green Pastures (Broadway Theatre)

Remains to Be Seen (Morosco Theatre )

1950

No Way Out- uncredited

*The Wisteria Trees (Martin Beck Theatre)

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