20 people wrongly accused of being communists

The Little Tramp was not only a cinema legend; he was also a victim of the paranoia that prevailed in the United States in the middle of the last century. Chaplin’s scathing social critiques and his sympathy for the poor aroused the suspicion of certain influential figures. When he was accused of having communist sympathies, he chose to go into exile in Switzerland rather than fight a losing battle to defend his reputation.

Yes, that very Lucille Ball—the queen of American comedy—once found herself under the FBI’s scrutiny. She had registered to vote as a communist decades earlier to please her grandfather, not to start a revolution. The matter eventually blew over, but not before it had seriously alarmed Hollywood about how far the witch hunt could go.

A brilliant conductor, composer of West Side Story, and lover of the American musical spirit, Bernstein could not escape surveillance. His liberal activism and his friendships in left-wing circles gave rise to numerous rumors. Although he was never a communist, he remained under government scrutiny for years.

Folk singer and activist Pete Seeger was blacklisted and even charged with contempt of Congress after refusing to name names. His “crime” was singing songs about justice and peace, which were apparently considered dangerous at the time. Eventually, time and common sense restored his reputation as one of the country’s moral musical icons.

Being one of the country’s greatest playwrights did not shield Miller from suspicion. His play The Crucible, which deals with the Salem witch trials, was inspired by the fear of communism, leading his critics to believe he had something to hide. Instead, he transformed that entire ordeal into a timeless work of art.

Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo became a symbol of the blacklist when he refused to testify before Congress. For years, he wrote under pseudonyms and even won two Oscars that he could not publicly claim. When the industry realized its mistake, his defiance came to be seen as heroic rather than rebellious.

Even a genius could not escape the suspicions of the time. Einstein’s outspoken stance on civil rights, pacifism, and international cooperation made him the target of obsessive FBI investigations. He continued to advocate for freedom of thought, calmly refuting paranoia just as he had refuted Newton.

The man who gave the world Sam Spade and The Maltese Falcon was not treated as a literary treasure. Hammett’s earlier involvement in anti-fascist groups was distorted to serve as evidence of his communist leanings. He refused to cooperate with investigators, which led to a prison sentence and a tarnished reputation that many worked hard to restore afterward.

Hughes’s poetry on racial equality made him an icon, but also a target. During the McCarthy hearings, his early works were mistakenly interpreted as communist propaganda. He made it clear that his sole loyalty was to dignity and truth, not to any political party.

He terrified America with The War of the Worlds, but it was the fear of communism that nearly destroyed him. Welles’s advocacy for social rights and artistic freedom aroused the government’s suspicion, which undermined his career. 

Singer, actor, and athlete Paul Robeson was a passionate advocate for racial and class equality. This made him a perfect target for Cold War alarmists. The U.S. government revoked his passport for years, silencing one of its most powerful artistic voices.

The mother of modern dance was accused of having ties to communism simply for championing creative independence. Her art explored freedom of expression, not ideology. Yet the suspicions lingered just long enough to cast a shadow over her early successes before reason prevailed.

Ironically, the journalist who helped bring Senator Joseph McCarthy’s crusade to an end was himself suspected. Murrow had friends around the world and had always defended intellectual freedom—traits that paranoid people found suspicious. He used his microphone to expose the hysteria for what it was.

One of the few Americans to have won the Nobel Prize twice faced intense political pressure for promoting nuclear disarmament. His advocacy for peace—not communism—landed him on the FBI’s watch list. History would later honor him as a visionary ahead of his time.

A scholar and civil rights pioneer, Du Bois was charged in 1951 with failing to register as an “agent of a foreign power.” The charge was absurd and was quickly dismissed, but the damage to his reputation lingered. Ironically, the government accused a man who was fighting for equality in America of betraying America itself.

Before becoming known as the voice of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” Burl Ives found himself caught in the crossfire of cultural tensions. He aroused suspicion because he had sung with left-wing folk groups in his younger years.

Beloved for his athletic grace in musicals, Kelly also had a strong social conscience. His political views were liberal, but far from radical. Yet guilt by association dragged him into investigations that might have derailed a less resilient artist.

Before Star Trek turned him into a cultural icon, Nimoy’s acting and progressive views prompted discreet inquiries from the authorities. Nothing came of it, but the fact that “Spock” was considered subversive speaks volumes about the absurdity of that era. 

The first lady of song caught the FBI’s attention for performing at fundraisers deemed “too liberal.” Music was her passion, not Marxist theory, but that distinction was often lost during the “Red Scare.” It’s hard to imagine that anyone could have seriously believed that swing music was a socialist threat.

Although Disney later testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee, he himself had been accused of harboring communist sympathies within his own studio. Ironically, these accusations helped shape his lifelong obsession with patriotic imagery and impeccable ideals.