1. Fred Astaire (1899-1987)• Although he never publicly discussed his political views, Astaire was a conservative and lifelong Republican
• Astaire was a founding member of the Hollywood Republican Committee along with stars like Bing Crosby and Ginger Rogers
•
Astaire was religious and attended church, was supportive of American military action, and was dismissive and critical of the increase of vulgarity and open sexuality in film during the 1970s
2. Brigitte Bardot (1934-)•
Is an Islamophobe and has been fined 5 times for inciting racial hatred• Bardot's husband Bernard d'Ormale is a former adviser of France's main fair right party
• In 1973, Bardot retired from acting at age 37 to focus on being an animal rights activist
• In her 1999 book
Le Carré de Pluton, Bardot made racist, misogynist, and homophobic remarks
•
Disapproves of miscegenation (interracial relationships)•
Hates feminism and criticized the Me Too movement• Aged poorly
3. Pat Boone (1934-)• Boone is a conservative Republican, and has campaigned and endorsed Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Mitt Romney
• Boone considered running for office on a pro-war platform in 1968
•
Was a vocal supporter of the Vietnam War and was very critical about Democrats who opposed the Iraq War, and suggested that opponents of the war and Bush (like the Dixie Chicks) were unpatriotic and did not "respect their elders"•
Is homophobic and compared gay rights protests and demonstrations to terrorism, and claimed unless they were checked, "hedonistic, irresponsible, blindly selfish goals and tactics of homegrown sexual jihadists will escalate into acts vile, violent and destructive"•
Compared liberalism to cancer• Is pro-Israel and defended Mel Gibson after the actor was recorded going on a vicious anti-Semitic tirade after he was being arrested for drunk driving
•
Participated in the racist claims that Barack Obama was ineligible to serve as president because he was Muslim and didn't celebrate Christian holidays, despite the fact that Obama and his administration prepared and hosted Christmas events for military personnel and groups of children• In 2011 Boone received a lifetime achievement award at the annual
Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)• Devoutly religious and called the scientific theory of evolution "absurd" and "nonsensical"
4. Gary Cooper (1901-1961)• Was a conservative Republican like his father, and voted for Calvin Coolidge in 1924 and Herbert Hoover in 1928 and 1932
• During the 1944 presidential election, Cooper heavily campaigned for Thomas Dewey, and because his activities were unpopular with the general public the studio later told him to stop antagonizing fans who didn't share his political views
• Cooper was a founding member of the
Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals (MPA), which was a very conservative and traditional organization
•
Appeared as a "friendly witness" before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1947, though he avoided naming anyone he suspected of having communist sympathies or ties in Hollywood and later said he regretted having been a witness• Was the last American movie star to visit Nazi Germany before the outbreak of World War II; he also stated that MGM's
Three Comrades (1938), a cautiously anti-Nazi film, should not have been made
•
Cooper said it was "very un-American" to suggest that the Constitution was out of date and that Congress was unnecessary• Had an audience with Pope Pius XII in Rome, became more serious about faith and began attending church regularly; he was baptized as a Roman Catholic in 1959 How typical of an aging/dying man, who allegedly hit a woman and had numerous affairs with actresses like Ingrid Bergman, Clara Bow, Marlene Dietrich, Carole Lombard, and Lupe Velez, to seek religion while facing his own mortality but I digress
• Tragic hairline
5. Walt Disney (1901-1966)• Disney was a supporter of the Democratic Party (likely influenced by his father who was quite liberal) until the 1940 presidential election
• Disney was a founding member of the anti-Semitic and anti-Communist
MPA• In 1947, Disney served as a "friendly witness" before the
HUAC• Also participated in the
blacklisting movement and would not hire many artists for Disney films based on rumors about them
•
Disney has been accused of anti-Semitism and racism (and his films definitely depict gross racial stereotypes), and often aligned himself with anti-Semites and bigots Birds of a feather and all that
• Became anti-union when the
1941 animator's strike caused him to lose money
6. Clark Gable (1901-1960)• Although he didn't speak publicly about politics, Gable was a conservative Republican
• His third wife, Carole Lombard, was a liberal Democrat and convinced him into supporting President Franklin Roosevelt
• In 1944, Gable became a member of the
MPA, along with several other conservative actors and filmmakers
• "Assisted"
HUAC in its efforts to find communists in Hollywood
• Did not allow himself to be photographed on set reading books because he fearfully believed it would undermine his macho screen image
• Disliked
Gone with the Wind (1939), where he played Rhett Butler because he said it was "a woman's picture"
• Following the death of Lombard in 1942, Gable enlisted in the army to honor her, as she had been killed in a plane crash while on tour selling war bonds
•
Gable had a gun collection valued at $500,000 that was kept in a special gun room in his house•
Gable managed to vote for Richard Nixon by mail in 1960 a few days before his death from a severe coronary thrombosis (blood clot inside a blood vessel of the heart)
7. Charlton Heston (1923-2008)• Despite being a supporter of Democratic politicians (Adlai Stevenson, John F. Kennedy) and civil rights in the 1960s, Heston became a conservative Republican as he aged (campaigned for Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and George W. Bush, and supported Richard Nixon in 1972)
• Was pro-life and gave the introduction to
Eclipse of Reason (1987), an anti-abortion documentary
•
Although he discussed gun control in 1968, he later became the president and spokesman of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) from 1998 until 2003; in Michael Moore's 2002 film
Bowling for Columbine, Moore criticized an 1999 NRA meeting that took place in Denver, Colorado shortly after the Columbine high school massacre as thoughtless and
after being questioned as to why he thought gun-related violence was much higher in the US, Heston replied: "we have probably more mixed ethnicity"•
Believed in reverse-racism: complained that the Actors' Equity Association's refusal to allow a white actor to play a Eurasian role in Miss Saigon was "obscenely racist"•
Believed in Rachel Dolezal's delusionaltheory of transracial identity: after being initiated by blood into the Miniconjou Lakota Nation while filming The Savage (1952), he said that although he had no American Indian heritage, he believed he was "Native American" because he didn't want the term to be referred exclusively to American Indians
8. Hedda Hopper (1885-1966)• Hopper was a fervent Republican and was a guest to numerous conservative rallies
•
Hopper was a driving force behind the Hollywood blacklist and was a leading member of the MPA•
After her career as an actress failed dwindled, Hopper became a columnist and would spread vitriol to people she believed were uncouth and un-American
• Hopper successfully spearheaded the blacklist of Ingrid Bergman, who became pregnant by a married man out of wedlock, and cooperated with the FBI to destabilize Charlie Chaplin's career due to his Communist sympathies and because he remained a British citizen and did not try to become a US citizen• Due to her extreme conservatism, many people in Hollywood privately called her a Nazi, and when this was brought up to her she cried and said, "All I've ever tried to be is a good American"
9. Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)• Reagan was actually a liberal Democrat in the 1940s but by the time John F. Kennedy became the president in 1960, Reagan was already turning into a right-wing Republican
• Reagan's first wife from 1940 to 1949, Jane Wyman, was a conservative Republican and she claimed that their political differences were a reason for their divorce
• Served as Governor of California from 1967 to 1975 and US President from 1981 to 1989
•
During his presidency, Reagan spurred the War on Drugs, increased military spending, repeatedly supplied weapons to US enemies (Iraq, Iran, Nicaraguan rebels, etc.), mostly ignored the HIV/AIDS crisis, and more•
Literally said: "Trees cause more pollution than automobiles"• Helped pave the way for other celebrities to go into politics regardless of political experience
• Mediocre actor
10. Jane Russell (1921-2011)• Russell was a prominent supporter of the Republican Party and even attended Dwight Eisenhower's inauguration
• Sided publicly with an industry panel that wanted to remove "provocative" scenes in one of her movies
•
Was pro-life and opposed abortion in any circumstance, including rape and incest• Was a supporter of Iraq War
• Became a born-again Christian before the term was even coined, Russell regularly hosted Bible study at her home
•
Literally said, "I always say I'm a mean-spirited, narrow-minded, right-wing, conservative Christian . . . I am not politically correct" but also "not a racist"
11. Frank Sinatra (1915-1998)•
A liberal Democrat who was concerned about "poor people" and outspoken about racism, Sinatra grew conservative with age• Admired John F. Kennedy and would party and womanize with him when Kennedy visited Hollywood and Las Vegas but was snubbed after Kennedy decided not to stay with Sinatra while visiting California due to the revelations of Sinatra's ties to organized crime with the mafia
•
Sinatra became less vocal about racial issues after changing his political affiliation in 1970• Sinatra endorsed Ronald Reagan (donating $4 million to his campaign) and Richard Nixon
• Was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985 by Reagan
12. Barbara Stanwyck (1907-1990)• Was a staunch conservative Republican
•
Opposed Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency because she believed that since she managed to become a success despite her disadvantaged background, others should be able to do so without government assistance or intervention• Became an early member of the
MPA in 1944
• Publicly supported
HUAC's investigations
• Fan of Ayn Rand and persuaded Warner Bros. to purchase the rights to
The Fountainhead before it became a best-seller
13. James Stewart (1908-1997)• Was a loyal conservative Republican, and supported and campaigned for Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan
• Stewart was the first movie star to enter the service for World War II, though he did not discuss his time in the military due to his traumatic experiences he had in killing other people and watching friends die
•
Supported the Vietnam War and after his adopted stepson was killed in action in Vietnam, Stewart maintained that he did not die in vain• Despised Vietnam War draft dodgers and called them "cowards"
• In 1985, Stewart was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by his friend Ronald Reagan
• Along with actors Charlton Heston, Kirk Douglas, and Gregory Peck, Stewart issued a statement calling for support of President Lyndon Johnson's Gun Control Act of 1968 after US Senator Robert F. Kennedy's assassination
•
Although they had different political views, Stewart was close friends with actor Henry Fonda, and after a fistfight during a political argument they never discussed politics again to maintain their friendship• Tragic hairline, later wore toupees by the early 1950s
14. Shirley Temple (1928-2014)•
Was a conservative Republican and a vocal supporter of the Vietnam War, and during her failed run for Congress she argued that the US needed to send more troops to Southeast Asia• Temple became involved in foreign affairs after her run for Congress, and was appointed as a delegate to the 24th United Nations General Assembly (1969) by President Richard Nixon, the US Ambassador to Ghana (1974-1976) by President Gerald Ford, the first female Chief of Protocol of the US (1976-1977) by President Jimmy Carter, and the US Ambassador to Czechoslovakia (1989-1992) by George H. W. Bush
• While serving as the US Ambassador to Czechoslovakia, Temple witnessed important moments in the country's fight against Communism: she was in Prague in August 1968 the day Soviet-backed forces invaded, and while stranded on a hotel roof she witnessed an unarmed woman gunned down on the streets by Soviet forces
15. Gene Tierney (1920-1991)• Tierney was a lifelong conservative Republican and was a supporter of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan in particular
•
Had a love affair in the 1940s with future president John F. Kennedy, who broke it off because of his political ambitions•
Despite voting for Richard Nixon, Tierney did send a congratulatory note to Kennedy for his victory in the 1960 presidential race
16. John Wayne (1907-1979)• Was a vocal and prominent conservative Republican for the majority of his life, though he claims he considered himself to be a socialist in his first year of college, described himself as liberal during his younger years in Hollywood, voted for Franklin Roosevelt in the 1936 presidential election, and differed with Republican Party over the Panama Canal issue
• Took part in creating the conservative
MPA in 1944, and was elected as the organization's president in 1949
•
Was asked to run for national office in 1968 by wealthy Texas Republican Party backers despite having no previous political experience but declined because he believed the public would never seriously consider an actor in the White House• Actively supported Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan
• Spoke on opening day at the 1968 Republican National Convention
•
Was racist, classist, and homophobic, and literally said: "I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility" and "I don't feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from [the Native Americans] . . . There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves."• Aged poorly
Honorable MentionsAlthough there was a fair share of conservative ladies in old Hollywood, it probably comes to absolutely no one's surprise that it was much easier to find male conservatives. So in an effort to keep the list relatively even, I narrowed it down to some of the more vocally conservative stars. Some honorable mentions: June Allyson, James Cagney, Claudette Colbert, Bing Crosby, Alain Delon, Betty Grable, Cary Grant, Tippi Hedren, Steve McQueen, Ethel Merman, Robert Mitchum, Laurence Olivier, Ginger Rogers, Cesar Romero, Mickey Rooney, and Jane Wyman.
• June Allyson and her husband Dick Powell successfully persuaded Ronald Reagan to switch political parties in 1962
• James Cagney, who became more conservative as he aged, once said he regarded his move away from liberal politics as "a totally natural reaction once I began to see undisciplined elements in our country stimulating a breakdown of our system . . . Those functionless creatures, the hippies . . . just didn't appear out of a vacuum"
• In her 2016 memoir, Tippi Hedren wrote that Donald Trump is a celebrity friend
• Ethel Merman was a frequent guest at the Eisenhower White House and has also said, "Eisenhower was my war hero and the President I admire and respect the most"
• Mickey Rooney was a staunch conservative Republican but later in life he claimed he supported the man and not the party; he said he was proud of Barack Obama and his policies
• Despite their divorce, Jane Wyman voted for her ex-husband Ronald Reagan in the 1980 and 1984 presidential elections
SOURCES: Fred Astaire
1&
2 | Brigitte Bardot
1&
2 | Pat Boone
1&
2 | Gary Cooper
1&
2 | Walt Disney
1&
2 | Clark Gable
1&
2 | Charlton Heston
1&
2 | Hedda Hopper
1&
2 | Ronald Reagan
1&
2 | Jane Russell
1&
2 | Frank Sinatra
1&
2 | Barbara Stanwyck
1&
2 | James Stewart
1&
2 | Shirley Temple
1&
2 | Gene Tierney
1&
2 | John Wayne
1&
2 | Honorable Mentions:
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10,
11,
12,
13,
14,
15,
16ONTD, who is your favorite old Hollywood conservative?