Howard Da Silva(1909-1986)
- Actor
- Director
- Additional Crew
Howard da Silva was one of 324 actors, writers and directors who fell
victim to the Hollywood blacklisting of the early 1950s, and had his
career halted in the blink of an eye. Originally was a steelworker
before making his stage debut at age 20 in New York. He made a name for
himself on Broadway before going to Hollywood, but kept up his stage
work after making the move to films. His most memorable performance
came in the 1943 Broadway production of Oklahoma!. In Hollywood, he
became a well-liked character actor, appearing in such films as
Sergent York (1941),
Le caïd (1942) and
Le Poison (1945). In
1947, his career was threatened when the House Un-American Activities
Committee (HUAC) began its investigation into alleged Communist
influence of Hollywood. Actor
Robert Taylor, called as a
"friendly witness", accused many of his fellow actors and writers of
either being communists or having communist sympathies. When questioned
about da Silva, Taylor said, "I can name a few who seem to sort of
disrupt things once in a while. Whether or not they are communists I
don't know. One chap we have currently, I think is Howard da Silva. He
always seems to have something to say at the wrong time." On November
25, 1947, a meeting of Hollywood executives held in New York released a
statement known as the Waldorf Statement, in which they announced a
blacklist would be immediately imposed aimed at anyone named or
suspected as a communist. "We will forthwith discharge or suspend
without compensation those in our employ and we will not re-employ any
of the ten until such time as he is acquitted or has purged himself of
contempt and declares under oath that he is not a communist." Howard
appeared in a few more films before he was called before HUAC, refused
to answer any of the committee's questions and was promptly blacklisted
by the studios. He continued working in the theatre, and once the
blacklist was lifted in the early 1960s made a return to film and
television. He passed away two years after making his last movie.
