On this day in 1951, the House Committee on Un-American Activities clears actor Edward G. Robinson from charges of communism. Following the 1948 conviction of 10 filmmakers, known as the Hollywood Ten, for refusing to divulge their political affiliations, the committee continued its relentless attempts to uncover Communists in Hollywood.

Robinson was well-known for his gangster roles but also played good guys in Double Indemnity, and All My Sons. Despite the fact that Robinson made extensive propaganda broadcasts to occupied Europe during World War II, promoting the United States in eight languages, Robinson came under fire from the committee. The star, known for his impersonation of gangster leader Rico Bandello in Little Caesar in 1931, asked to testify in secret before the committee and was cleared. His career suffered nevertheless, and as part of a divorce settlement he was forced to sell his renowned art collection, one of the world’s largest privately owned collections.

Robinson was only one of many entertainers whose career suffered after run-ins with the committee. The committee linked some 300 other Hollywood personalities to the Communist Party, most of whom were then blacklisted by the industry. Some became “friendly witnesses” and divulged the names of other people they believed to have Communist connections, but others, starting with the Hollywood Ten, refused to say whether they belonged to the much-feared party, saying the questions violated their constitutional rights. The committee decided they were in contempt of Congress and sentenced them each to terms of six months to a year in prison. They were fired by the film studios that employed them, and hundreds of others were dismissed and blacklisted after that. Journalists, former FBI agents, and anti-Communist groups supported and extended the blacklist, and in 1950 a list of 151 entertainers with alleged Communist ties was published by American Business Consultants.

Fearing repercussions from sponsors and viewers for being “soft on Communism,” Hollywood networks and agencies paid consultants to do background checks on potential employees to ferret out anyone with Communist connections. The list soon spread to include people involved with labor unions, for instance, which supported some of the same causes Communists did. Others were added to the list simply because they opposed the list. Though blacklisted writers could sometimes score work by using pseudonyms (the “Robert Rich” who won an Academy Award in 1956 for The Brave One screenplay was actually Dalton Trumbo of the Hollywood Ten), many actors who were on the list were forced into retirement or out of the country because they couldn’t find work. The practice of blacklisting lasted until the 1960s. (With thanks to History.com)