The son ofHollywood Reporter founder Billy Wilkerson has apologised for the trade paper'srole in the 1940s witch-hunts that saw many in the industry ostracised forhaving communist ties.The actors, writers and directors on the so-calledblacklist suffered huge damage to their careers as a result.
Willie Wilkerson's apology for what he called"Hollywood's Holocaust" was published in TheHollywood Reporter.
He said his father had wanted to take revenge against"studio titans".
According to his son, Billy Wilkerson tried toestablish his own studio in the late 1920s before founding The HollywoodReporter in 1930.
"For whatever reason, the movie brass refusedhim entry into their 'club' and squashed his dream," Mr Wilkerson goes on."So he found another one: exacting revenge."
After World War II, Wilkerson Senior supported theblacklist by using his paper to publish a series of editorials that attackedcommunist sympathisers and their supposed influence in Hollywood.
"In his maniacal quest to annihilate the studioowners, he realised that the most effective retaliation was to destroy theirtalent," wrote Willie Wilkerson of his father.
"In the wake of this emerging hysteriasurrounding communism, the easiest way to crush the studio owners was to simplycall their actors, writers and directors communists.
"Unfortunately, they would become the collateraldamage of history."
The firstHollywood "blacklist" was published on 25 November 1947. Mr Wilkersonsaid he felt it was necessary to apologise "on the eve of this dark 65thanniversary".
Studios deniedwork to those named on the blacklist, forcing some writers to work under pseudonymsand others to work overseas.
Theinvestigations of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in the1940s and 1950s prompted an anti-communist witch-hunt.
"Callingsomeone a communist today is almost laughable," wrote Willie Wilkerson, 61."But in 1950 it was a professional death sentence.
"Instantaneouslypeople lost their jobs, and future employment was, in too many cases, denied.
"Theblacklist silenced the careers of some of the studios' greatest talent andruined countless others merely standing on the sidelines," Wilkersonwrote.
"On behalfof my family, and particularly my late father, I wish to convey my sincerestapologies and deepest regrets to those who were victimised by this unfortunateincident."
Edward Dmytryk,Dalton Trumbo and Ring Lardner Jr were among the members of the so-calledHollywood 10 who were cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperatewith HUAC.
William RWilkerson died in 1962, two years after the blacklist was broken.
Source: BBC
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