![]( "Lauren Bacall (1948)")
1. Lauren Bacall (1924-2014)• Bacall was a staunch liberal Democrat throughout her life
•
Was one of about 80 Hollywood celebrities to send a telegram protesting the House Un-American Activities Committee's (HUAC) investigations of Americans suspected of Communism, with the telegram stating that investigating individuals' political beliefs violated the basic principles of American democracy• Campaigned for Harry Truman in the 1948 presidential election, Adlai Stevenson in the 1952 presidential election, and Robert Kennedy in his 1964 run for the US Senate
•
Bacall has described herself as "anti-Republican" and said, "being a liberal is the best thing on earth you can be. You are welcoming to everyone when you're a liberal. You do not have a small mind"• Stayed gorgeous her whole life
![]( "Humphrey Bogart (1941)")
2. Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957)•
During the 1944 presidential election, Bogart endorsed Franklin Roosevelt, and because his activities were unpopular with the general public the studio told him to stop antagonizing fans who didn't share his political views• In 1952, after initially supporting the Republican candidate Dwight Eisenhower, Bogart campaigned for the Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson
•
Organized a delegation to Washington, DC, called the Committee for the First Amendment, in retaliation to what he believed was the harassment of Hollywood screenwriters and actors by the HUAC• To counter the negative publicity received from protesting HUAC, Bogart wrote an article called "I'm No Communist" to help distance himself and wife Lauren Bacall from the
Hollywood Ten, writing, "The ten men cited for contempt by the House Un-American Activities Committee were not defended by us"
![]( "Marlon Brando (1951)")
3. Marlon Brando (1924-2004)• Brando was arrested in a 1964 "fish-in" held to protest a broken treaty that had promised Native Americans fishing rights in Puget Sound
•
Brando refused to accept his Oscar for his performance in The Godfather at the 1973 Academy Awards; instead, Sacheen Littlefeather stood for him in full Apache attire and stated that Brando would not accept the award due to the "poor treatment of Native Americans in the film industry"•
Brando was against the apartheid: in 1964, to prevent his films from being shown to a segregated audience, he favored a boycott of his filmography, and in 1975 he took part in a protest rally against American investments in South Africa and for the release of Nelson Mandela• Apparently once refused a role in the early 1960s, saying, "How can I act when people are starving in India?"
• In a 1996 interview with Larry King, Brando said, "Hollywood is run by Jews; it is owned by Jews, and they should have a greater sensitivity about the issue of—of people who are suffering. Because they've exploited—we have seen the—we have seen the n*gger and greaseball, we've seen the chink, we've seen the slit-eyed dangerous Jap, we have seen the wily Filipino, we've seen everything, but we never saw the k*ke" but also "Thank God for the Jews" when pressed about being anti-Semitic; King later claimed that Brando's comments were blown out of proportion and taken out of context
• Performed in the Zionist play
A Flag is Born in 1946
• When his third wife Tarita Teriipia was asked about making more films, she replied that she would like to but Brando wanted her to "stay home and raise the children"; Brando's daughter with Tarita, Cheyenne, alleges that he wasn't a good father during her childhood and accused him of molesting her
• Aged poorly
![]( "Henry Fonda (1937)")
4. Henry Fonda (1905-1982)•
Although he was once a registered Republican, Fonda was a liberal Democrat for most of his life, and one of the more active Democrats in Hollywood• Was a founding member of the Hollywood Democratic Committee during the 1930s
• Fonda admired Franklin Roosevelt, and his daughter Jane claims the only time she ever saw her father cry was when Roosevelt died
• Appeared in a campaign commercial for presidential candidate John F. Kennedy in 1960
•
Fonda once said Ronald Reagan made him "physically ill" and he "couldn't stomach any of the Republicans, most of all Richard Nixon"• Despite being against the Vietnam War, Fonda was persuaded to go on a 23 day tour, where he took and autographed polaroids with servicemen
•
Fonda's son Peter wrote in his autobiography that he believes his father's liberalism caused his father to be gray-listed during the early 1950s, when he experienced a 6-year layoff from films• Although he was very liberal, Fonda still maintained friendships with conservatives like James Stewart and John Wayne (they never talked about politics with each other)
• Despite popular belief, Fonda supported his daughter Jane's left-wing and anti-war activism during the Vietnam War and told critics to "shut up" because "she's perfect" at the AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Henry Fonda in 1978
![]( "Katharine Hepburn (1940)")
5. Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003)•
Hepburn was the daughter of a doctor and suffragette who encouraged her to speak her mind, develop it fully, and exercise her body to its full potential• Described herself as a "dedicated Democrat"
• Hepburn did not believe in religion or the afterlife
•
In the 1940s Hepburn was prompted into political activity after her name was mentioned at the HUAC's hearings as a Communist sympathizer (which she denied), and she joined the Committee for the First Amendment• Hepburn promoted birth control and supported the right to abortion in her later life
![]( "Marsha Hunt (1942)")
6. Marsha Hunt (1917-)•
At age 100, Hunt still considers herself a liberal Democrat and is very concerned with numerous progressive causes, such as supporting same-sex marriage, ending global poverty, and raising awareness for climate change• Was a very active member of the Hollywood Democratic Committee and The Hollywood Anti-Nazi League
• Hunt and her husband became members of the
Committee for the First Amendment in 1947 after becoming disturbed by the actions of the
HUAC•
Hunt flew to Washington, DC, along with other Hollywood actors, directors, writers, and filmmakers, to protest HUAC's actions, and when she flew back a few days later she was asked to denounce her activities if she wanted to continue working Hunt refused, and in 1950, Hunt was blacklisted after being named a potential Communist or Communist sympathizer in the Red Channels• Hunt was a founder of the San Fernando Valley Mayor's Fund for the Homeless and raised funds to help create a day care shelter for homeless children called the Rose Cottage
• In 2013, Hunt debuted a clip of a song about love and same-sex marriage called "Here's to All Who Love" that she wrote 40 years prior; the song was sung by
Glee star Bill A. Jones and went viral
• Advocates for adults and children affected by homelessness and mental illness, and served for many years on the Advisory Board of Directors for the San Fernando Valley Community Mental Health Center
![]( "Gene Kelly (1945)")
7. Gene Kelly (1912-1996)• Kelly was a lifelong liberal and supporter of the Democratic Party
• During World War II, Kelly enlisted in the Navy and was a sailor
•
In 1947, he joined the Committee for the First Amendment and flew to Washington, DC, to protest the first official hearings by the HUAC•
When Betsy Blair, Kelly's first wife, was suspected of being a Communist sympathizer and the studio United Artists was considering dropping her under pressure from the American Legion, Kelly successfully threatened MGM's influence on United Artists with a pullout from the 1955 film It's Always Fair Weather unless his wife was restored to the part• Kelly often used his position on the board of directors of the Writers Guild of America to mediate disputes between unions and Hollywood film studios
• Despite being raised Roman Catholic, Kelly severed his ties with the church in 1939 and became an agnostic
•
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![]( "Burt Lancaster (1947)")
8. Burt Lancaster (1913-1994)• Lancaster was a dedicated supporter of the Democratic Party and he campaigned for several Democratic politicians; Lancaster's films often reflect his liberal political beliefs
•
Frequently spoke out in support of racial minorities, including at the March on Washington (which he flew home from a movie set in Europe to attend), and was a financial supporter of Martin Luther King, Jr.• Was a vocal opponent of the Vietnam War
• After George Bush referred to the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) as "un-American" during the 1988 presidential election, Lancaster appeared in a television advertisement where he said, "My name is Burt Lancaster and I've a confession to make. I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU"
• Lancaster supported the fight against AIDS in 1985 after Rock Hudson, his close friend, admitted he had AIDS
• Due to his political affiliation, Lancaster lost 2 roles in Cecil B. DeMille's films (DeMille was a conservative Republican)
•
Lancaster was also nearly blacklisted in the late 1940s due to his liberalism, and the FBI kept a file on his activities•
Was one of the 575 people named on Richard Nixon's Enemies List• In 1987, Lancaster appeared in a television advertisement in opposition to Ronald Reagan's Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, who ended up being defeated
![]( "Carole Lombard (1936)")
9. Carole Lombard (1908-1942)• Lombard was an active liberal Democrat
•
Married Clark Gable, who was a conservative Republican, and convinced him to support Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal reforms•
After the US entered World War II in 1941, Lombard traveled to her home state of Indiana to promote war bonds; she raised over $2 million ($32 million adjusted for inflation) in defense bonds in a single evening• Posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom by Franklin Roosevelt as the first woman killed in the line of duty in World War II
![]( "Myrna Loy (1933)")
10. Myrna Loy (1905-1993)• Loy was a devout Democrat and feminist
•
Was an outspoken critic of Adolf Hitler and later appeared on his blacklist due to her anti-Nazi statements•
Later dismissed her work in the pre-Civil Rights-era movie Ham and Eggs at the Front (1927) as "shameful"• Franklin Roosevelt was a big fan of Loy before she became an active Democrat, and she became a personal friend of Eleanor Roosevelt
• Loy campaigned for John F. Kennedy in 1960
•
Battled with Ronald Reagan, then the Governor of California, over open-housing legislation; Loy was a vigorous member of the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing for years afterward![]( "Fredric March (1932)")
11. Fredric March (1897-1975)• Along with his second wife, Florence Eldridge, March was a supporter of the Democratic Party throughout his life
• March served in the US Army during World War I as an artillery lieutenant
•
In 1936, March co-founded the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League (HANL)•
In 1938, March was targeted for blacklisting and investigated by the HUAC due to his "leftist" politics• In 1943, March toured for the USO, covering nearly 40,000 miles, and also volunteered at the Stage Door Canteen and contributed to other fundraising activities to support the war effort
• March was given the honor of reading the Gettysburg Address to a joint session of Congress on the 150th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln in 1959
• At John F. Kennedy's request, March read excerpts from the works of late Nobel Prize winners at the White House in 1962
![]( "Paul Newman (1957)")
12. Paul Newman (1925-2008)• Newman was a lifelong liberal Democrat who supported several Democratic politicians; many of Newman's films reflect his political views
• In 1968, Newman supported anti-war Senator Eugene McCarthy's bid to win the Democratic nomination from incumbent President Lyndon Johnson, and even helped raise McCarthy's campaign $125,000 during his first telethon
•
Richard Nixon placed Newman on his Enemies List due to his support of McCarthy and his opposition to the Vietnam war; Newman claimed this was his greatest accomplishment•
During the 1968 presidential election, Newman found out that a Jaguar he rented on the weekends was being rented to Richard Nixon (also known as "Tricky Dick") so he left a note in it saying, "This clutch is tricky, so you won't have any trouble with it"• Newman attended the 1963
March on Washington and was present at Manhattan's first Earth Day event in 1970
• Newman was concerned about global warming and supported nuclear energy development as a solution
• Was a longtime supporter of gun control and a member of Handgun Control Inc.
• Was a vocal supporter of gay rights
![]( "Gregory Peck (1949)")
13. Gregory Peck (1916-2003)• Peck was a lifelong Democrat, and his films often reflected his liberal political views
•
In 1948, Peck received a subpoena due to his association with "liberal" organizations and causes, and had to testify to the HUAC that he wasn't a Communist•
Due to his liberal activism, Richard Nixon placed him on his Enemies List• Peck was an outspoken critic of the Vietnam War, though he remained supportive of his son who fought there
• Called the men who wished to avoid the draft due to their moral convictions against the war "patriots" and "heroes" during the Vietnam War
•
In 1987, Peck did voice-overs for television commercials opposing Ronald Reagan's Supreme Court nomination Robert Bork, whose nomination ended up being defeated•
Was a vocal supporter of a worldwide ban of nuclear weapons and a lifelong gun control advocate; in 1999, Peck publicly criticized Congress for failing to pass gun control legislation following Columbine• Peck was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, by Lyndon Johnson in 1969
• Marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. at the
March on Washington, and after King's assassination, Peck, who was the president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences from 1967 to 1969, made the decision to postpone the 1968 Oscar ceremony
• Was a supporter of AIDS fundraising and was also a presenter at the 1997 GLAAD Awards
• Stayed gorgeous his whole life
•
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![]( "Edward G. Robinson (1937)")
14. Edward G. Robinson (1893-1973)• Robinson was an outspoken critic of fascism and Nazism during the 1930s and 1940s
• Was active with the Hollywood Democratic Committee and served on its executive board in 1944
• Donated over $250,000 to more than 850 political and charitable organizations involved in war relief, as well as cultural, educational and religious groups; Robinson later found out that 11 of the groups were listed by the FBI as Communist front organizations
•
Robinson was unable to join the military during World War II due to his age, though he became a Special Representative based in London where he took advantage of his multilingual skills to deliver radio addresses in over six languages to Nazi-occupied countries• Less than a month after the Invasion of Normandy, Robinson traveled to Normandy to entertain the troops, and in doing so became the first movie star to go there for the USO; after returning to the US, he visited shipyards and defense plants to keep up worker morale, and appeared at rallies to help sell war bonds
•
Although not a supporter of Communism, Robinson did not criticize the Soviet Union during the War because he saw them as an ally against Hitler, and he appeared at their war relief rallies after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union to give moral aid to America's new ally, saying they could join "together in their hatred of Hitlerism"•
In 1950 and 1952, Robinson was called to testify in front of the HUAC and, although he was cleared of any Communist involvement, his career suffered after he was blacklisted•
After World War II ended, Robinson publicly supported the democratic rights for every American and endorsed the Fair Employment Practices Commission's call to end workplace discrimination![]( "Gale Sondergaard (1939)")
15. Gale Sondergaard (1899-1985)•
Sondergaard was married to Herbert Biberman who was one of the Hollywood Ten
• Biberman was accused of being a communist by the HUAC; Sondergaard and her husband were effectively blacklisted in 1947• Director Mervyn LeRoy, who gave Sondergaard her first break, cast her in a supporting role to test industry reaction but she received a negative response that completed her blacklisting and didn't appear in another major Hollywood film for 28 years
• Stated her family was politically progressive and she marched in parades with her suffragette mother during her youth
![]( "Orson Welles (1941)")
16. Orson Welles (1915-1985)• Welles was aligned with the left throughout his life and defined his political orientation as "progressive" on numerous occasions
• Was a strong supporter of Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal, though he did describe Roosevelt's presidency as "a semidictatorship" in the 1980s
•
Considered running for the US Senate in 1946, representing his home state of Wisconsin; the seat was won by Joseph McCarthy, who introduced McCarthyism to the US•
Welles' political activities were reported in Red Channels, the anti-Communist publication that helped fuel the Hollywood blacklist, and Welles was in Europe during the height of the Red Scare which increased rumors of his alleged Communist sympathies and ties• Welles narrated a satirical political record on Richard Nixon's administration in
The Begatting of the President in 1970
• Criticized racism in the US and the practice of segregation
Honorable MentionsUnfortunately, I couldn't fit everyone on the list. Some honorable mentions include: Tony Curtis, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Kirk Douglas, Joan Fontaine, Ava Gardner, James Garner, Danny Kaye, Louis Jourdan, Angela Lansbury, Janet Leigh, Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Lana Turner, and Shelley Winters.
• Although she mostly answered questions about him civilly, Bette Davis sometimes openly mocked ex-costar Ronald Reagan in several interviews
• While filming
The War Wagon (1967), Kirk Douglas recorded a TV spot endorsing the Democratic Governor of California Edmund G. Brown, which enraged costar John Wayne who had recorded an advertisement for Ronald Reagan, the Republican challenger
• During a time when homosexuality was rarely discussed, Judy Garland constantly acknowledged her gay fan base
• James Garner married his wife Lois Clarke 2 weeks after they met at a political rally for 1956 Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson; the couple remained married until his death in 2014
• John Huston was invited to a White House lunch because First Lady Nancy Reagan's father was Huston's doctor, and after she asked if he thought her husband turned out to be an even better president than everyone had expected, Huston replied, "Worse my dear—far, FAR worse!" Huston was not invited back to the White House during the Reagan administration
• After his father was arrested by the Gestapo during World War II, Louis Jourdan and his brothers joined the
French Resistance, where he "worked on illegal leaflets, helping to print and distribute them"
• Some sources allege that Spencer Tracy was an arch-conservative during the 1930s but his views changed after he met Katharine Hepburn while others claim he was always a moderate Democrat; regardless, Tracy believed actors had no place in politics
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• Shelley Winters briefly addressed the Selma marchers outside Montgomery on the night before they marched into the state capitol in 1965
In case you missed it,
here is my previous post on old Hollywood conservatives!
SOURCES: Lauren Bacall
1&
2 | Humphrey Bogart
1,
2&
3 | Marlon Brando
1,
2,
3&
4 | Henry Fonda
1,
2&
3 | Katharine Hepburn
1&
2 | Marsha Hunt
1,
2&
3 | Gene Kelly
1&
2 | Burt Lancaster
1&
2 | Carole Lombard
1&
2 | Myrna Loy
1&
2 | Fredric March
1&
2 | Paul Newman
1&
2 | Gregory Peck
1&
2 | Edward G. Robinson
1&
2 | Gale Sondergaard
1&
2 | Orson Welles
1&
2 | Honorable Mentions:
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10,
11,
12,
13,
14,
15&
16![]( "Paul Newman in Silent Movie (1976)")
ONTD, who is your favorite old Hollywood liberal?
