Literature Network » Ring Lardner

The Last of the Hollywood Ten.

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From: The Progressive
Date: 20010101
Author:Buhle, Paul

Ring Lardner Jr., who died on October 31 at eighty-five, was the last of the Hollywood Ten, the group of screenwriters who were persecuted by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and ended up in prison for their politics--or for their unwillingness to name names.

When asked by the chairman of HUAC in 1947 if he belonged to the Communist Party, Lardner responded with the best line of the notorious hearings: "I could answer the question exactly the way you want, but I'd hate myself in the morning."

HUAC and McCarthyism ruined thousands of careers, set back the ...

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