A Special Comment: Are You Now or Have You Ever Been...

A Special Comment: Are You Now or Have You Ever Been…

Funny thing about this article is that I was planning on writing it once we reached the 1953 period so I could talk about the Murrow/McCarthy confrontation. But, while I was working on the article on the ratings, I came across a few stories that told me that to really discuss matters, it would be best to deal with the background and build up to where we were in 1953 starting now. One thing I want to say upfront – I want to try and keep any personal feelings on the issue, who was right and who was wrong, out of this to allow just the facts to stand on their own and encourage anyone reading it to draw their own conclusions. I also want to keep this as grounded as possible in television, since some of this did play out, seen and unseen, in living rooms during most of the early 1950s.

To make a long story very short, following World War II, the greatest threat the United States had to deal with was the rise of Communist governments in Russia, China and by the summer of 1950, the war in Korea. The concern was the fear that members of the Communist party would try to secretly infiltrate American institutions ranging from newspapers to movies to the government itself and ruin the United States from within. This idea of “subversion” is where television would feel the first pinch of the scare.

Just prior to the start of the 1950-1951 television season, a report entitled Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television was published by Counterattack, an anti-Communist newsletter. Running six pages in length, the reports laid the claim that any individual, radio or television show that spoke in favor of civil rights, nuclear arms control and any form of academic freedom was working in alliance with the Communist party. Long on rhetoric and short on specifics, the report named 151 people working in the entertainment industry just on the claim on the causes that they supported that they were actually Communists and a threat to the American way of life. A short list of the names included in the report and their relevance include:

- Lee J. Cobb. He originated the role of Willy Lohman in Death of a Salesman on Broadway and performed the role on television in 1966. Named by Red Channels, he was urged to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee to name other people who may have also had Communist leanings or face the blacklist, something that would bar him from ever being employed on Broadway, Hollywood or appearing on television again. He testified in 1953, naming a further 20 individuals.
- Paul Draper. A dancer who worked to expand awareness of tap dancing as an art form, he regularly appeared on Toast of the Town until Red Channels listed his name. Cut from the show and unable to find work, he spent the next three years in a virtual exile in Europe.
- Howard Duff. Best known for his radio work as Sam Spade, his career might have been ended completely by the Red Channels listing had not his marriage to actress Ida Lupino kept him in some jobs just out of respect to her.
- Clifford Durr. A member of the Federal Communications Commission overseeing radio and television. He ran afoul of the House Un-American Activities Committee by fighting for educational programming on the radio and disagreeing with the requirement to take a loyalty oath to work for the FCC.
- Will Greer. His television career would expand following this era, but prior to this, he was best known for Broadway and movie work. He was added to the list for his refusal to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee.
- Ben Grauer. Best known at this point for his announcing of Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra in addition to his prolific work for NBC radio during World War II.
- Nat Hiken. Writer for Texaco Star Theater. His career would survive the blacklist and he’d be back writing for television in the late 50s and early 60s.
- Marsha Hunt. Probably known best on the blog for playing Janet in The Storm on Studio One in addition to guest appearances on Your Show of Shows. She actually had no ties to Communism, but got hit by Red Channels anyway for standing up to the House Un-American Activities Committee, keeping her from getting much work until late in the 1950s.
- Pert Kelton. She was the original Alice Kramden when The Honeymooners was a 10-minute sketch on Cavalcade of Stars. She ended up losing the role to Audrey Meadows as a result of being blacklisted.
- Phillip Loeb. This is one of the more famous blacklist cases for television in this era. Loeb had been with The Goldbergs since the show debuted on radio continuing on into television. When Red Channels listed his name, the sponsors of the show insisted Loeb be fired. The show’s owner and Loeb’s costar, Gertrude Berg, stood by Loeb, leaving The Goldbergs in a bit of a limbo state until Loeb resigned from the show. Loeb never recovered from the blacklist, committing suicide in 1955.
- Ella Logan. Best known on television for her guest singing performances on Texaco Star Theater, the Ed Wynn Show and the Colgate Comedy Hour among others until the blacklist made her effectively disappear from television until the 1960s.
- Burgess Meredith. Best known at this point in his television career for some guest appearances on Lights Out. He ended up on the list for his association for causes believed to be Communist fronts.
- Zero Mostel. A rather raucous comedian who had made a few television appearances, most notably on Toast of the Town prior to Red Channels publishing its list. His rather infamous testimony hearing and refusal to name anyone he may have associated with kept him unemployed until the 1960s.
- Jean Muir. Cast as the mother in The Aldrich Family, she was yanked from the cast following the shooting of the 1950-1951 season premiere after Red Channels published her name. She would not return to television until the 1960s.

And these are just a few of the television related named put on the list, each of them now stuck with a choice – go to Washington and testify or fight and be out of work for who knows how long. The really unfortunate part of the story is the names listed by Red Channels were not the first, nor would they the last over the next two years. The anti-Communist movement in American government would continue to have an impact over who or what was on television throughout the early part of the decade and, to be fair, some television scripts would be passing judgment on the period just ten years later. It is enough to say that heading into the 1951-1952 television season, an atmosphere of who knew what and who would get the call next was on everyone’s mind. I will continue to examine the story as we go along whenever something relevant to television comes up.

Next time, a look at early television science fiction.