# Are any actors blacklisted today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 27, 2002, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-actors-blacklisted-today/105882 "2002-04-27T00:16:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2002, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-actors-blacklisted-today/105882/41 "2002-04-30T21:18:31Z")
Yeah, cuz Bruce Willis sure hasn’t had much of a career since he… What? ---
**Author:** ![ScriptAnalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@ScriptAnalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScriptAnalyst)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2002, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-actors-blacklisted-today/105882/42 "2002-04-30T23:39:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lemur866 \* > \*\*Also many of the people who agreed to testify for HUAC were essentially blacklisted. Look at Elia Kazan…when he finally got that lifetime achievement award last year there were many people who refused to stand or applaud. “On the Waterfront” was made in an attempt to explain why Kazan felt he had to testify. ? \*\* No, Elia Kazan was not “essentially blacklisted.” By naming names, he kept off the black list and was able to continue his career in Hollywood. Yes, a few people refused to stand and applaud when he got his lifetime achievmeent award, because they knew he had rated out former friends and colleagues in order to protect his own career. The fact that people resent you or despise what you’ve done to save your own skin can hardly be equated with a blacklist that prevented people from earning a living. > [@](#): > > \*\*The other thing to remember is that most of the people hauled before HUAC really _were_ communist party members, although most had quit the party after the 30s. Of course it isn’t and shouldn’t be a crime to be a communist, just like it isn’t and shouldn’t be a crime to be a member of the Ku Klux Klan. But would you work with someone you knew was a Klansman? \*\* So the people hauled before the HUAC were NOT communist party members; they were FORMER party members, who had abandoned the party when they became disillusioned with it. And for this it’s okay to systematically prevent them from working in the motion picture industry? Your equation of the communist part in America with the Klan is ridiculous. No blacklisted Hollywood writer, director, or actor was accused of lynching black people and/or throwing bombs into churches with black congregations. Besides whether or not you would want to work with them isn’t the issue. The issue is that studios tried to prevent anyone from working with them, whether they wanted to or not. ---
**Author:** ![ScriptAnalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@ScriptAnalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScriptAnalyst)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2002, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-actors-blacklisted-today/105882/43 "2002-04-30T23:47:24Z")
Oh, one more thing… Not everyone who testified wound up as despised as Kazan. Some people broke under pressure and regretted their actions, such as actor Sterling Hayden, who later apologized for testifying. Kazan comes in for sure ire because he not only testified. He then took out an ad in the trade papers justifying his decision on moral grounds and pretending he wasn’t just acting to protect his career. The problem with his argument (and I’m not the first one to notice this) is that if he really felt the communists were a threat, why didn’t he come forward years before when he was an active party member? Why did he wait until he was forced to testify and his career was on the line? I’m as happy as anyone that Kazan was able to make the pictures he did, but we can’t let his talent blind us to his self-serving motives, which he then presented as moral crusading. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-actors-blacklisted-today/105882/44 "2002-05-01T00:21:47Z")
OK, change that to “former Klan members”. I’m sure there are some former Klan members that I might not despise, and former communists. And most Klan members aren’t accused of lynchings or bombings either. Most Klan members (not that there are many left nowadays) are just big talkers. Klansmen are held legally responsible for the crimes they commit themselves. The guys you see on Jerry Springer aren’t accused of any crime, and most of the various Klan organizations aren’t on the FBI terrorist list and are perfectly legal political/social groups that have just as much right to peaceably assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances as you or me. I stand by my Klan:Communist Party analogy. ---
**Author:** ![Zap\_Rowsdower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3da27b/32.png) [@Zap\_Rowsdower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zap_Rowsdower)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-actors-blacklisted-today/105882/45 "2002-05-01T02:00:59Z")
How about Michael Moriarty. He was the original prosecutor nn Law and Order, and is an admitted liberal. He was the only actor I recall that spoke out against Janet Reno and the Clinton administrations threat to get involved with TV and movies to and was critical of the shows producers not challenging Reno. Have not seen him around much since then other than bit parts on TV and lower budget movies. He may not be officially blacklisted, but I feel he probably did some damage to his career by speaking out against “Hollywoods President”. ---
**Author:** ![Zoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/6de8d8/32.png) [@Zoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoff)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-actors-blacklisted-today/105882/46 "2002-05-01T10:48:34Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by rjung_ > Of course, that begs the question of whether > > (a) coming “out” as a conservative would truly result in them being blacklisted by various non-conservative producers/directors/whoever, or > > (b) these conservative actors/actresses only think that being an overt conservative would get them blacklisted because that’s what they’d do if the situation was reversed. Or © some conservatives have been harmed. I certainly don’t have an answer and was just reporting what Sharon Waxman says. But it seems a little silly to attempt to psychoanalyze conservative actors as you did with option (b). ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-actors-blacklisted-today/105882/47 "2002-05-01T16:12:11Z")
Michael Moriarty’s career problems aren’t related to his politics. He’s had trouble getting work because, well, he’s basically a fruitcake. He’s a pretty good actor, but by all reports he’s _exceedingly_ difficult to work with, largely due to his near-religious fervor about adhering to the so-called “Method.” ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-actors-blacklisted-today/105882/48 "2002-05-01T19:48:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zoff \* > Or © some conservatives have been harmed. Maybe, but then we get into the bigger issue of whether they were “harmed” (whatever that is) because of their political beliefs, or because of other unrelated factors (tempermental on the set, overbearing, refusing to take direction, etc.). > [@](#): > > But it seems a little silly to attempt to psychoanalyze conservative actors as you did with option (b). I’m just of the belief that people like to project their own behavior onto others when trying to predict what “others” will do. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-actors-blacklisted-today/105882/49 "2002-05-01T20:53:45Z")
[ul]Why wasn’t [**Robert Downey, Jr.**](http://w1.850.telia.com/~u85007036/frontlogo.gif) blackballed and run out of town a long time ago? 😕 And I think that **Alex Baldwin** should only be able to star in films made in the foreign country he has moved to.[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-actors-blacklisted-today/105882/50 "2002-05-01T20:58:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > \*\*Michael Moriarty’s career problems aren’t related to his politics. He’s had trouble getting work because, well, he’s basically a fruitcake. He’s a pretty good actor, but by all reports he’s _exceedingly_ difficult to work with, largely due to his near-religious fervor about adhering to the so-called “Method.” \*\* The man must be a loon. As I heard it, he moved to Canada to get away from the political correctness in the United States. That’s like moving to Utah to get away from the Mormons in Nevada. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-actors-blacklisted-today/105882/51 "2002-05-02T00:05:23Z")
I read (in _Parade_ magazine IIRC, so take that for what it’s worth) that Moriarty moved to Canada because of “signs of the end times” or something along those lines. He also described himself as a functioning alcoholic. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-actors-blacklisted-today/105882/52 "2002-05-02T01:53:31Z")
A functioning alcoholic and possible schizophrenic. Moriarty’s wife/S.O. (not sure of their legal status) has had problems with him being violent toward her, he’s been arrested for battery, and he’s had several other “incidents” which weren’t alcohol related but definitely involved him acting erratically. Shame that, because he’s a damn fine actor. ---
**Author:** ![DPWhite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d26b3c/32.png) [@DPWhite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPWhite)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-actors-blacklisted-today/105882/53 "2002-05-02T04:02:32Z")
Vanessa Redgrave doesn’t need another Oscar, she is the finest living film actress, bar none, and on the same level as Brando. Her unusal politics have nothing to do with my opinion of her artistry. Faye Dunaway is an outstanding actress, I can’t figure why people don’t like her. While Bo Derek has complained that she is blacklisted because she is a Republican and Republicans are blacklisted, one only has to look to Arnold Schwarznegger and Bruce Willis, and Charleton Heston, all of whom are big Republican supporters to see that isn’t so. As nice and pretty a woman as Bo is, she’s just an awful film actress in my opinion, and more importantly, doesn’t put fannies in the seats. And with respect to Kazan, he only named people who had already been named. If he really thought communism was evil, I suppose he could have come up with some new names, if he knew them. I think he did some wonderful work as a director. The blacklist and the McCarthy hunts themselves were far more evil than communism. ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-actors-blacklisted-today/105882/54 "2002-05-02T13:33:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lemur866 \* > \*\* > > I stand by my Klan:Communist Party analogy. \*\* Political party=Hate group? how so? Sorry, but that makes no sense, the klan spreads hate and bigotry, and exists for that purpose. The Comunist party exists to further a political system(not a good one, IMHO). Not the same thing at all. ---
**Author:** ![Zoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/6de8d8/32.png) [@Zoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoff)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-actors-blacklisted-today/105882/55 "2002-05-02T14:36:34Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by rjung_ > Maybe, but then we get into the bigger issue of whether they were “harmed” (whatever that is) because of their political beliefs, or because of other unrelated factors We certainly do. I don’t know enough about Hollywood or the producers to know if their beliefs are true. I was specifically addressing the point of whether there were more Republicans in Hollywood than many people suspected. > [@](#): > > I’m just of the belief that people like to project their own behavior onto others when trying to predict what “others” will do. I’ve no doubt some people project, but I’m of the opinion it’s dangerous to make sweeping psychological statements about groups. Some people lock their doors at night, but that doesn’t make them burglars. I don’t mean to belabor the point, but I’m extremely leery of broad psychological pronouncements about groups we know nothing about. I’ve never seen much good come of that. I’m unaware of any evidence that actors or Republicans project at a greater rate than the general public. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-actors-blacklisted-today/105882/56 "2002-05-06T11:06:02Z")
I remember hearing that there was an unofficial blacklist of anyone involved with the movie [Wired](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0098660) because it exposed a side of Hollywood that they’d rather people not know about. I’ve heard the same thing happened to Faye Dunnaway for Mommie Dearest. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-actors-blacklisted-today/105882.md?page=2)