Top 10 Celebrities Who Were Blacklisted by McCarthyism

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy led a crazed witch hunt against people whom he and his followers deemed "communists" or "communist sympathizers." This was the start of a political movement known as McCarthyism.

Among the hundreds of Americans blacklisted and investigated were notable celebrities who were alive at the time. Here were some of them who were investigated and/or blacklisted.

The Top Ten

  1. Albert Einstein

    Albert Einstein (14 March 1879 - 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory of relativity, but he also made important contributions to the development... read more

    The famous scientist was also a firm socialist, a fact that was enough for J. Edgar Hoover to call for him to be barred from entering the US.

  2. Charlie Chaplin

    Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE (April 16, 1889 - December 25, 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the silent film era. He is considered one of the most important figures in the history of the film industry. Chaplin is best known for his iconic character... read more

    Chaplin had made his political views very clear in movies like The Great Dictator. This made him a clear target of McCarthyists, so much so that he was banned from entering the US at one point.

    Yes, Chaplin was done dirty, but also remember he was in a paternity suit and married women way younger than him.

  3. Lucille Ball

    Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 to April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, model, film studio executive, and producer. She was best known for her work on the television shows I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, and Here's Lucy. In 1962, she became the first woman to lead a major television studio... read more

    The star of I Love Lucy endured an FBI investigation for allegedly registering as a communist supporter in the 30s.

  4. Orson Welles

    George Orson Welles was an American actor, director, writer, and producer who worked extensively in theater, radio, and film. He is best known for directing and starring in Citizen Kane (1941), which is widely considered one of the greatest films of all time. Welles also co-founded the Mercury Theatre... read more

    The director of Citizen Kane faced accusations of being a communist, with said movie being used as "evidence" for it.

  5. Arthur Miller

    Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 - February 10, 2005) was an American playwright and essayist who played a major role in shaping 20th-century American theater. He became widely known between the late 1940s and early 1960s, a period during which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, testified... read more

    The famous playwright was convicted for "contempt of Congress" after admitting to supporting communist groups and refusing to name affiliates.

  6. Danny Kaye

    Kaye was blacklisted and investigated following an attempt to form a committee with other Hollywood stars in protest of McCarthyism.

  7. J. Robert Oppenheimer

    J. Robert Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist who was a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. He served as the wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory and is widely recognized as the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in the Manhattan Project, the World... read more

    Credited as the "father of the atomic bomb," Oppenheimer was blacklisted following supposed ties to the Communist Party, stripping him of his rising political influence.

    Now this is one I can agree with. He was done very dirty, but he still lived a distinguished life.

  8. Billie Holiday

    Eleanora Fagan, professionally known as Billie Holiday, was an American jazz musician and singer-songwriter with a career spanning nearly thirty years. She was known for her emotive voice and unique phrasing. Holiday's most famous recordings include Strange Fruit, God Bless the Child, and Lover Man.

  9. Dorothy Parker

  10. Langston Hughes

    James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 - May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. He was a pioneer of jazz poetry, a style that blends the rhythm and mood of jazz music with poetic expression. Hughes is best remembered as... read more

    Hughes was well-known for his support of communist ideas. This was enough for Congress to make him testify, later prompting Hughes to go completely silent on politics.

    11. The Newcomers
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    Marsha Hunt

  12. ?

    Pablo Picasso

    Pablo Ruiz y Picasso (October 25, 1881 - April 8, 1973), also known as Pablo Picasso, was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, stage designer, poet, and playwright. He spent most of his adult life in France, where he produced a vast and influential body of work... read more

    13. The Contenders

  13. Lena Horne

  14. Leonard Bernstein

    Leonard Bernstein was an American composer, conductor, author, music lecturer, and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States to receive worldwide acclaim. Bernstein was also the longtime music director of the New York Philharmonic and composed the music for West... read more

    The famous composer was continuously spied on by the FBI for his left-wing views and was blacklisted by CBS in the 50s.

  15. Zero Mostel

    Mostel defied the authorities in good humor and was blacklisted for years. In that time, his theater career flourished. He won a Tony in 1961 for his performance in Ionesco's 'Rhinoceros' and in 1965 for 'Fiddler on the Roof'.

  16. Pete Seeger

    Peter "Pete" Seeger was a renowned American folk singer and social activist. He gained national prominence through radio in the 1940s and had major success in the 1950s as a member of the Weavers. The group's version of "Goodnight, Irene" spent 13 weeks at number one in 1950. Seeger and the Weavers... read more

  17. W.E.B. Du Bois

    The famous activist and author was indicted because of his pro-socialist views.

  18. Josephine Baker

    Freda Josephine Baker (née McDonald, June 3, 1906-April 12, 1975), naturalized as Joséphine Baker, was an American-born French dancer, singer, and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in France. She was the first black woman to star in a major motion picture, the 1927 French silent... read more

  19. Eddie Albert

  20. Katharine Hepburn

    Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress. Known for her fierce independence and spirited personality, Hepburn was a leading lady in Hollywood for more than 60 years. She won four Academy Awards for Best Actress, the most of any performer in that category.

  21. Edward G. Robinson

    Emanuel Goldenberg, known professionally as Edward G. Robinson, was an American actor born on December 12, 1893, in Romania. He was a popular star on stage and screen during Hollywood's Golden Age, appearing in 40 Broadway plays and more than 100 films over a 50-year career. Robinson is best remembered... read more

  22. Lionel Stander

  23. Carl Foreman

  24. Marilyn Monroe

    Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson, June 1, 1926 - August 5, 1962) was an American actress, singer, and model. Decades after her unexpected death, she has remained one of Hollywood's greatest sex symbols with her eye-catching style, champagne blonde hair, and breathless manner of speaking. She... read more

  25. Lillian Hellman

  26. Isaac Asimov

    Isaac Asimov, born Isaak Ozimov (c. January 2, 1920 - April 6, 1992), was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. He was known for his works of science fiction and popular science. Asimov wrote or edited more than 500 books, including the Foundation series and I, Robot... read more

  27. Artie Shaw

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