Albert Maltz(1908-1985)
- Writer
Oscar-nominated screenwriter Albert Maltz was born on October 28, 1908
in Brooklyn, New York. After graduating from Columbia University in
1930, he attended the Yale School of Drama for two years as a tyro
playwright. After striking out on his own as a dramatist, he developed
sociopolitical plays which were destined to be produced by the
left-wing theatrical companies the Theatre Union and the Group Theatre.
He also wrote novels and short stories. In 1935, during the Great
Depression, he joined the Communist Party.
Maltz labored as a screenwriter for Warner Bros., which had made its
reputation in the 1930s for its socially aware dramas. He worked on the
classic Casablanca (1942) and other
feature films and documentaries during World War II. He wrote the
Oscar-winning documentary
The House I Live In (1945), a
plea for racial tolerance, and was nominated for an Oscar for writing
Pride of the Marines (1945).
Maltz wrote an article in 1945 for the "New Masses" that demanded more
intellectual freedom from the Communist Party for its members. Pressure
from the Party made him recant his position, which had a chilling
effect on some other Party members and liberal supporters of the
Party's right to exist.
In 1947, Maltz and other Party members (and suspected Party members and
sympathizers) were called before the House Un-American Activities
Committee (HUAC) which had determined to investigate "communist
infiltration" of the movie industry. Maltz and nine others were cited
for contempt of Congress for their uncooperative behavior before the
Committee, which included not "naming names" of other communists, and
were dubbed the "Hollywood 10". All were fined and jailed, and they
were also blacklisted by the American film industry.
Remaining a committed communist, Maltz continued to write, using
"fronts" who sold his screenplays and received any writing credit
alloted by the studios and WGA. He remained unrepentant about his
progressive politics until the end, which came on August 26, 1985 when
he died in Los Angeles at the age of 76.
in Brooklyn, New York. After graduating from Columbia University in
1930, he attended the Yale School of Drama for two years as a tyro
playwright. After striking out on his own as a dramatist, he developed
sociopolitical plays which were destined to be produced by the
left-wing theatrical companies the Theatre Union and the Group Theatre.
He also wrote novels and short stories. In 1935, during the Great
Depression, he joined the Communist Party.
Maltz labored as a screenwriter for Warner Bros., which had made its
reputation in the 1930s for its socially aware dramas. He worked on the
classic Casablanca (1942) and other
feature films and documentaries during World War II. He wrote the
Oscar-winning documentary
The House I Live In (1945), a
plea for racial tolerance, and was nominated for an Oscar for writing
Pride of the Marines (1945).
Maltz wrote an article in 1945 for the "New Masses" that demanded more
intellectual freedom from the Communist Party for its members. Pressure
from the Party made him recant his position, which had a chilling
effect on some other Party members and liberal supporters of the
Party's right to exist.
In 1947, Maltz and other Party members (and suspected Party members and
sympathizers) were called before the House Un-American Activities
Committee (HUAC) which had determined to investigate "communist
infiltration" of the movie industry. Maltz and nine others were cited
for contempt of Congress for their uncooperative behavior before the
Committee, which included not "naming names" of other communists, and
were dubbed the "Hollywood 10". All were fined and jailed, and they
were also blacklisted by the American film industry.
Remaining a committed communist, Maltz continued to write, using
"fronts" who sold his screenplays and received any writing credit
alloted by the studios and WGA. He remained unrepentant about his
progressive politics until the end, which came on August 26, 1985 when
he died in Los Angeles at the age of 76.