Along with Dalton Trumbo, Ring Lardner Jr. may perhaps be best known among the blacklisted film writers. Howard Fast was an admitted card-carrying Communist until 1956. Jailed in 1950 for refusing to name names, blacklisted of course, Fast formed his own publishing house and continued to write. His historical novels remain significant contributions to American fiction. Because many of the blacklists in the communications and entertainment industries were secret, the number of playwrights, script writers, novelists, and journalists who were forced to stop writing permanently is unknown.
Conservative estimates suggest hundreds.
Contemporary attitudes are now different. Efforts are being made to sort through the many films, articles, and books written pseudonymously, and giving actual writers their appropriate credit. What was not written, potentially a great body of American literature, however, will never be known. Inc. PageWise makes no representations about the content published on this site. PageWise hereby disclaims all warranties and conditions with regard to this information, and user agrees that all such use is at its own risk.