ORGANIZATION

Existed from 1936 to 1942.

Initially its proper name was The Hollywood Anti-Nazi League for Defense of American Democracy, but changed in December 1939 to the Hollywood League for Democratic Action. By which time its membership list had grown to more than 4,000.

According to heavily-redacted FBI files, the organization was a Communist front. It is indisputable that the organization had Communist members.

The group ultimately gave rise to an entity known as the Hollywood Peace Forum.

Location:
Los Angeles, CA

Founding Date:
Jul-1936

Name	Occupation	Birth	Death	Known for
George Antheil	Composer	8-Jul-1900	12-Feb-1959	Le Ballet mécanique
Fay Bainter	Actor	7-Dec-1891	16-Apr-1968	Jezebel
Robert Benchley	Author	15-Sep-1889	21-Nov-1945	Humorist and screenwriter
Joan Bennett	Actor	27-Feb-1910	7-Dec-1990	Little Women
Irving Berlin	Composer	11-May-1888	22-Sep-1989	White Christmas, God Bless America
Herbert J. Biberman	Screenwriter	4-Mar-1900	30-Jun-1971	Blacklisted screenwriter
George Brent	Actor	15-Mar-1899	26-May-1979	The Great Lie
Bruce Cabot	Actor	20-Apr-1904	3-May-1972	Saved Fay Wray from King Kong
James Cagney	Actor	17-Jul-1899	30-Mar-1986	New York tough guy
Eddie Cantor	Singer	31-Jan-1892	10-Oct-1964	Banjo Eyes
Joan Crawford	Actor	23-Mar-1905	10-May-1977	What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
George Cukor	Film Director	7-Jul-1899	23-Jan-1983	My Fair Lady
Bette Davis	Actor	5-Apr-1908	6-Oct-1989	All About Eve
Melvyn Douglas	Actor	5-Apr-1901	4-Aug-1981	Being There
Alice Faye	Actor	5-May-1915	9-May-1998	Fallen Angel
Henry Fonda	Actor	16-May-1905	12-Aug-1982	12 Angry Men
John Ford	Film Director	1-Feb-1894	31-Aug-1973	How Green Was My Valley
Helen Gahagan	Actor	25-Nov-1900	28-Jun-1980	Actress, California Congresswoman
Ira Gershwin	Songwriter	6-Dec-1896	17-Aug-1983	They Can't Take That Away from Me
Samuel Goldwyn	Film/TV Producer	17-Aug-1882	31-Jan-1974	Put the G in MGM
Oscar Hammerstein II	Musician	12-Jul-1895	23-Aug-1960	Rodgers and Hammerstein
Harry Hay	Activist	7-Apr-1912	24-Oct-2002	Gay activist, founder The Mattachine Society
Ben Hecht	Screenwriter	28-Feb-1894	18-Apr-1964	The Front Page
Lillian Hellman	Playwright	20-Jun-1905	30-Jun-1984	Little Foxes
Miriam Hopkins	Actor	18-Oct-1902	9-Oct-1972	The Story of Temple Drake
George Jessel	Actor	3-Apr-1898	24-May-1981	Toastmaster General of the United States
Nunnally Johnson	Screenwriter	5-Dec-1897	25-Mar-1977	The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
Al Jolson	Singer	26-May-1886	23-Oct-1950	The Jazz Singer
Victor Jory	Actor	23-Nov-1902	12-Feb-1982	Cat-Women of the Moon
Carl Laemmle	Film/TV Producer	17-Jan-1867	24-Sep-1939	Independent Motion Picture Company
Priscilla Lane	Actor	12-Jun-1915	4-Apr-1995	Saboteur
Rosemary Lane	Actor	4-Apr-1914	25-Nov-1974	Four Daughters
Ring Lardner, Jr.	Playwright	19-Aug-1915	31-Oct-2000	Screenwriter, M*A*S*H
John Howard Lawson	Playwright	25-Sep-1894	11-Aug-1977	One of the Hollywood Ten
Myrna Loy	Actor	2-Aug-1905	14-Dec-1993	The Thin Man
Charles MacArthur	Playwright	5-Nov-1895	21-Apr-1956	The Front Page
Aline MacMahon	Actor	3-May-1899	12-Oct-1991	Dragon Seed
Fredric March	Actor	31-Aug-1897	14-Apr-1975	The Best Years of Our Lives
Groucho Marx	Comic	2-Oct-1890	19-Aug-1977	You Bet Your Life
Paul Muni	Actor	22-Sep-1895	25-Aug-1967	The Life of Louis Pasteur
Pat O'Brien	Actor	11-Nov-1899	15-Oct-1983	Angels with Dirty Faces
Dennis O'Keefe	Actor	29-Mar-1908	31-Aug-1968	Brewster's Millions
Dorothy Parker	Author	22-Aug-1893	7-Jun-1967	Constant Reader known for acerbic quips
Dick Powell	Actor	14-Nov-1904	2-Jan-1963	The Bad and the Beautiful
Claude Rains	Actor	10-Nov-1889	30-May-1967	The Invisible Man
Edward G. Robinson	Actor	12-Dec-1893	26-Jan-1973	Key Largo
Ginger Rogers	Dancer	16-Jul-1911	25-Apr-1995	The Gay Divorcee
Robert Rossen	Screenwriter	16-Mar-1908	18-Feb-1966	The Hustler
Rosalind Russell	Actor	4-Jun-1907	28-Nov-1976	Auntie Mame
Ann Sheridan	Actor	21-Feb-1915	21-Jan-1967	Torrid Zone
Gale Sondergaard	Actor	15-Feb-1899	14-Aug-1985	Anthony Adverse
Lionel Stander	Actor	11-Jan-1908	30-Nov-1994	Chauffer Max on Hart to Hart
Josef von Sternberg	Film Director	29-May-1894	22-Dec-1969	The Last Command
Donald Ogden Stewart	Author	30-Nov-1894	2-Aug-1980	The Philadelphia Story
Gloria Stuart	Actor	4-Jul-1910	27-Sep-2010	Rose in Titanic
Spencer Tracy	Actor	5-Apr-1900	10-Jun-1967	Two consecutive Best Actor Oscars
Frank Tuttle	Film Director	6-Aug-1892	6-Jan-1963	This Gun for Hire
Jack L. Warner	Business	2-Aug-1892	9-Sep-1978	Co-Founder, Warner Bros.
Roland Young	Actor	11-Nov-1887	5-Jun-1953	Cosmo Topper

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