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Full articleAlbert Maltz (October 28, 1908 – April 26, 1985) was an American screenwriter, playwright, and novelist who joined the Communist Party USA in 1935 and became one of the Hollywood Ten for refusing to disclose his political affiliations to the House Un-American Activities Committee. Born to Polish Jewish immigrants in Brooklyn, New York, Maltz graduated from Columbia University with a philosophy degree in 1930 before earning a master's in playwriting from Yale, launching a career that blended proletarian themes with commercial success in theater and film. His notable screenplays included the film noir This Gun for Hire (1942) and the Academy Award-nominated documentary-style thriller The Naked City (1948), which showcased his skill in adapting socially conscious narratives for mainstream audiences. In 1946, Maltz sparked the "Maltz Affair" by publishing an essay advocating artistic independence from strict ideological dictates in communist literature, only to publicly recant under pressure from party leaders, highlighting the internal constraints of his political commitments. Cited for contempt of Congress after defying HUAC in 1947, he served a prison term starting in 1950 and faced industry blacklisting that forced him to work via fronts and pseudonyms until the mid-1960s, during which he produced novels like The Cross and the Arrow (1944) and later reflected critically on Stalinism while maintaining leftist affiliations.
In brief
Albert Maltz (; October 28, 1908 – April 26, 1985) was an American playwright, fiction writer and screenwriter. He was one of the Hollywood Ten who were jailed in 1950 for their 1947 refusal to testify before the US Congress about their involvement with the Communist Party USA. They and many other US entertainment industry figures were subsequently blacklisted, which denied Maltz employment in the industry for many years.
Photographs
Hero photograph: Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons
