He (and his two sisters, Nikola and Mitzi) knew Dalton Trumbo best. A long-touted motion picture on prominent Hollywood screenwriter and communist Dalton Trumbo debuts in theaters this weekend. It Changed How We Talk About Freedom. Rich had the best possible reason of all not to be present: He did not exist. Make no mistake: Douglas is referring to Trumbo prior to the blacklisting, so this isn't a situation where a person's artistic merits are inflated due to a civil injustice. James Dalton Trumbo was born in Montrose, Colorado on December 5, 1905 and grew up in the nearby town of Grand Junction. His father, Orus, was hardworking but struggled to achieve financial stability. I will see the film, but first I’d like to share some background on Trumbo. They experienced the blacklist period—their father’s inquisition by the Committee on Un-American Activities, his imprisonment, the family’s … Orus and Maud Trumbo often had difficulty supporting Dalton and his sisters. Dalton Trumbo was an award-winning author and screenwriter who was blacklisted from the film industry from 1947 until the early 1960s due to his Communist ties. He was a pseudonym, one of many, for Dalton Trumbo, a blacklisted writer. Dalton Trumbo with Mitzi on the ranch in 1948. Web Only / Culture » December 15, 2015 The Blacklist in ‘Trumbo’ Didn’t Just Restrict Free Speech. Along with other members of the famous "Hollywood Ten," Trumbo refused... #contemptofcongress #hollywoodten #huac Blacklisted in Hollywood in 1947, screenwriter Dalton Trumbo is interviewed by CBS reporter Bill Stout in January, 1959. Dalton Trumbo was reputedly postwar Hollywood’s highest paid screenwriter, with such scripts under his belt as 1940’s class conscious “Kitty Foyle,” for which Ginger Rogers won a Best Actress Oscar, and World War II morale boosters like “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” starring Spencer Tracy. This was supposed to be Christopher Trumbo’s book. Kirk Douglas, who died Wednesday, helped end the Hollywood blacklist when he credited writer Dalton Trumbo for "Spartacus," joining others who also spoke up. Dalton Trumbo The blacklist era kicked off in 1947, when famed screenwriter Dalton Trumbo and several other filmmakers known as the “Hollywood Ten” … In the aforementioned documentary Trumbo (2007), actor Kirk Douglas stated, Everybody wanted to use the name of Dalton Trumbo. Dalton Trumbo, a successful Hollywood screenwriter, defied the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) on this day in public hearings on alleged Communist influence in Hollywood. The blacklist era kicked off in 1947 when famed screenwriter Dalton Trumbo and several other filmmakers known as the “Hollywood Ten” were called before the House Un-American Activities Committee and asked a now-famous question: “Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?” So, it is not surprising that they have swarmed against Trumbo, a movie honestly portraying him and his fight against the motion-picture blacklist. “Trumbo” is a rarity: A Hollywood movie with a heroic lead identified as a Communist. Dalton Trumbo was reputedly postwar Hollywood’s highest paid screenwriter, with such scripts under his belt as 1940’s class conscious “Kitty Foyle,” for which Ginger Rogers won a Best Actress Oscar, and World War II morale boosters like “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” starring Spencer Tracy.