Communist infiltration of Hollywood motion-picture industry : hearing before the Committee on Un-American activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-second Congress, first session (1951)

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3454 COMMUNISM IN HOLLYWOOD MOTION-PICTURE INDUSTRY here today is to obtain your testimony in open hearings and to question you further on matters discussed at the earlier hearings. Will you please state the time and place of your birth ? Mr. Odets. I was born in Philadelphia, Pa., July 18, 1906. Mr. Tavenner. What was your formal education ? Mr. Odets. Two years of high school, and elementary school in the Bronx, New York City. Mr. Tavenner. What is your occupation ? Mr. Odets. I am a playwright and a theater director. Mr. Tavenner. Have you also engaged in the acting profession? Mr. Odets. I have in the past been an actor. I have written and directed for movies. (Kepresentative Harold H. Velde entered the room at this point.) Mr. Tavenner. Where do you now reside? Mr. Odets. In New York City. Mr. Tavenner. Where have you lived during your professional career? That is, as an actor and as a playwright and director. Mr. Odets. I have lived in Philadelphia, I have worked and lived in Camden, N. J.; Chester, Pa.; Hollywood, Calif. Mr. Tavenner. Well, now, will you tell us when you went to Hollywood ? Mr. Odets. My first visit to Hollywood was after I became a play- wright, at the end of 1935. I went as a writer. Mr. Tavenner. And how long did you remain in Hollywood? Mr. Odets. I would guess at that time about 10 or 12 weeks. Mr. Tavenner. Did you return to Hollywood at a later time ? Mr. Odets. Yes; I have been there a number of times since. Mr. Tavenner. Well, would you tell us as nearly as you can the periods when you were in Hollywood ? At first I understood you to say it was the end of 1935. Mr. Odets. 1935. After that I will guess two or three excursions to Hollywood to make one picture. That would be between the years of 1936 and perhaps 1941. Mr. Tavenner. What was the title of the picture ? Mr. Odets. I went one time to make a picture for Paramount called Gettysburg. I went one time for United Artists to make a picture called The River Is Blue, which I did not finally write. I went at another time to write The Life of George Gershwin; and finally in 1943 I went to Hollywood for a period of slightly over 4 years. Mr. Tavenner. When did you leave Hollywood and return to New York? Mr. Odets. I will guess in 1947 and a half or 1948. Mr. Tavenner. And since that time how have you been employed or in what work have you been engaged ? Mr. Odets. I have since then in New York City written and pro- duced two plays, one of which I directed, my last one. Mr. Tavenner. What are their names? Mr. Odets. The first one was called The Big Knife, and the second one was called The Country Girl. Mr. Tavenner. The Big Knife was in 1948 and the Country Girl in 1951, I believe. Mr. Odets. I think so.