The Campaign Ep 19: Blacklisted actress Marsha Hunt
Imagine having to answer that question because someone you worked with, someone you were employed by, someone you may have dined with or known as a good friend gave your name to a government official. Imagine having to answer that question when you have spent your life not really involved much – you voted every time, you thought about issues, you stood when the flag was raised and you did your part but politics was not the center of your life. Or, imagine having to answer that question when a few years before you fought for your country or you lost a loved one who fought for your country.
“Are you now or have you ever been…..” is a question that thousands of good Americans who sang and danced for us, acted in movies and plays for us, produced, directed or wrote those plays, movies and shows for us had to face. It was a terrible period in the mid 1940′s to the early 1960′s when things like the “House Un American Activities Committee” or “the Black List” existed. It was a haunting time, a time that featured mean hearted political leaders out less for their nation and more for their own advancement who were warped by a paranoia un-matched at any other time in our history.
But, it also featured heroes and Ernie and Carl spoke to one of them for this show. They were men and women who loved this country. They were men and women who understood freedom and the right to speak and the right to say “no” to a government gone crazy. Those heroes did not in most cases want to be a “political player.” But, at the same time, they did not want to snitch on colleagues, And, they refused to answer questions rooted not in the search for truth but, rather, rooted in the most ugly motivations to suppress.
The hero that joined us for this show was the wonderfully talented and internationally respected stage and screen actress – Marsha Hunt. She spoke with Ernie and Carl for a walk through the past and the present as she shared what it was like to be “black listed” and kept from employment as an actress and how she stood up and fought them as she kept going, never lost hope and continued with her life as a caring citizen, an artist and a friend to many. Ms. Hunt lives in Los Angeles and, now, in her late 90′s she continues to bring joy, insight and energy to a nation that owes her a thousand thank you’s for who she is and for how she is an example and model of bravery, generosity and dignity. Give a listen !
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