List of women identified as communists in Red Channels explained

During the early days of the Cold War, many prominent women were listed as communists or fellow travellers in the American anti-communist publication Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television in June 1950.^[1] As a result of being listed in the pages of this volume, many of these 41 women found it difficult to find employment in media industries.^[2]

List

• Stella Adler

Actress, director

• Edith Atwater

Actress

• Vera Caspary

Writer, novelist^[3]

• Mady Christians

Actress; council member, Actors' Equity Association^[4]

• Louise Fitch

Actress

• Ruth Gordon

Actress, writer

• Shirley Graham

Musician; writer; founding member of Sojourners for Truth and Justice^[5]

• Uta Hagen

Actress, teacher^[6]

• Lillian Hellman

Playwright, author^[7]

• Rose Hobart

Actress; board member, Screen Actors' Guild^[8]

• Judy Holliday

Actress^[9]

• Lena Horne

Singer, actress^[10]

• Marsha Hunt

Actress^[11]

• Donna Keath

Actress

• Pert Kelton

Actress

• Adelaide Klein

Actress

• Gypsy Rose Lee

Burlesque artist; quiz show host; recording secretary American Guild of Variety Artists^[12]

• Madeline Lee

Actress, social activist^[13]

• Ray Lev

Concert pianist

• Ella Logan

Singer

• Aline MacMahon

Actress

• Margo, sometimes known as Margo Albert: Actress, dancer
• Jean Muir

Actress^[14]

• Meg Mundy

Actress

• Dorothy Parker

Writer; co-founder Hollywood Anti-Nazi League^[15]

• Minerva Pious

Actress

• Anne Revere

Actress; secretary, Screen Actors Guild

• Selena Royle

Actress

• Hazel Scott

Musician, actress^[16]

• Lisa Sergio

Radio commentator^[17]

• Ann Shepherd

Actress

• Gale Sondergaard

Actress

• Hester Sondergaard

Actress

• Helen Tamiris

Choreographer

• Betty Todd

Director; secretary, Radio and Television Directors Guild

• Hilda Vaughn

Actress

• Fredi Washington

Actress; journalist, The People's Voice; secretary, Negro Actors Guild of America

• Margaret Webster

Author, director, producer^[18]

• Ireene Wicker

Radio show host

• Betty Winkler

Actress

• Lesley Woods

Actress

• Adelaide Bean

Actress

Further reading

• Book: Stabile, Carol. The Broadcast 41: Women and the Anti-Communist Blacklist. Goldsmiths Press. 2018. 978-1-91268542-4.

Notes and References

1. Book: . Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television. 1950. Counterattack . New York, NY.
2. Book: Stabile, Carol . 2018 . The Broadcast 41: Women and the Anti-Communist Blacklist . London . Goldsmiths Press . 978-1-906897-87-1.
3. Book: Caspary, Vera. The Rosecrest Cell. W.H. Allen. 1968. London.
4. Book: Barranger, Millie. Unfriendly Witnesses: Gender, Theater, and Film in the McCarthy Era. Southern Illinois University Press. 2008.
5. Book: Horne, Gerald. Race Woman: The Lives of Shirley Graham Du Bois. New York University Press. 2015.
6. News: Uta Hagen, Tony-Winning Broadway Star and Teacher of Actors, Dies at 84. Gussow. Mel. 2004. The New York Times. 2018-03-10. en-US. 0362-4331.
7. Book: Alice., Kessler-Harris. A difficult woman : the challenging life and times of Lillian Hellman. 2012. Bloomsbury Press. 9781608193950. New York. 738346448.
8. Book: Hobart, Rose. A Steady Digression to a Fixed Point. Scarecrow Press. 1994.
9. Book: Gary., Carey. Judy Holliday, an intimate life story. 1982. Seaview Books. 0872237575. 1st. New York. 8194852.
10. Book: Horne, Lena. Lena. Doubleday. 1965. New York, NY.
11. News: Marsha Hunt at 100: The Actress Recalls the Blacklist, Film Noir and Being Cast in Gone With The Wind - MovieMaker Magazine. 2017-10-13. MovieMaker Magazine. 2018-03-10. en-US.
12. Book: Stripping gypsy : the life of Gypsy Rose Lee. Frankel, Noralee. 2010. Oxford University Press. 9780199754335. New York. 658003848.
13. News: Lee . Madeline . August 22, 1955 . Madeline Lee's Statement to the Witchhunters. The Daily Worker.
14. Book: Muir, Jean. Autobiography. unpublished. University of Oregon Special Collections and University Archives.
15. Book: Meade, Marion. Dorothy Parker : what fresh hell is this?. 1989. Penguin. 9780140116168. New York. 18351200.
16. Book: Karen., Chilton. Hazel Scott : the pioneering journey of a jazz pianist from Café Society to Hollywood to HUAC. 2008. University of Michigan Press. 9780472115679. Ann Arbor. 179794223. registration.
17. Spaulding. Stacy . 2005-12-05 . LISA SERGIO: HOW MUSSOLINI'S "GOLDEN VOICE" OF PROPAGANDA CREATED AN AMERICAN MASS COMMUNICATION CAREER . Ph.D. . January 29, 2024.
18. Book: Barranger, Milly. Margaret Webster: A Life in the Theater. University of Michigan. 2004.