Martin Yarus (February 6, 1917 – March 7, 2008), better known as George Tyne, was an American stage and film actor and television director. He was blacklisted in 1951.
Tyne also appeared on Broadway in a number of roles, including the hit 1954 play Lunatics and Lovers.
Prior to his blacklisting, Tyne's last movie role was in the 1951 war film Decision Before Dawn. During the period of his blacklisting he worked mainly as a stage actor. He appeared in supporting roles in the 1954 off-Broadway revival of Threepenny Opera, the 1954 comedy Lunatics and Lovers, and Romanoff and Juliet(1957).
Tyne's film and television career picked up in the mid-1960s. He moved to the west coast and worked as an actor in small roles and as a television director.[4]
Tyne was blacklisted from the movies in 1951 and from television in 1952, after his name was publicized in congressional committee hearings into alleged Communist infiltration of the entertainment industry.[5]
In August 1955, the House Un-American Activities Committee held hearings in New York City to probe alleged Communist infiltration of Broadway, radio and television. Tyne, then appearing in the Broadway play Lunatics and Lovers, was one of seven witnesses who refused to answer questions about whether they had been members of the Communist Party. Six cited their right to avoid self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, but Tyne, Pete Seeger and Elliott Sullivan simply refused to answer, which resulted in their receiving contempt of Congress citations.[5][4]
In his testimony, Tyne called actor Lee J. Cobb a "stool pigeon" for naming him as part of a "Communist group" in Hollywood in 1943. Tyne refused to say whether he knew Cobb, and said, "I think the privilege offered by the fifth amendment is wonderful for those who wish to take advantage of it, but I'm not standing on it." Tyne refused to identify a Communist Party card, shown to him by the committee counsel, which was made out to "Buddy" Yarus. Tyne said, "All these questions are an invasion of any personal and private ideas and associations."[5]
In July 1956, Tyne was one of seven witnesses, including playwright Arthur Miller, who were cited for contempt of Congress of Congress by the House of Representatives. The other six included stage actress Sarah Cunningham, her husband John Randolph, and actors Lou Polan and Stanley Prager.[6]
In March 1957, Tyne, Seger and Sullivan were indicted by a federal grand jury in New York for refusing to answer HUAC questions during its August 1955 hearings. All were charged with contempt of Congress.[7] Tyne was acquitted in 1961 on technical grounds.[8]
^Year: 1920; Census Place: Brooklyn Assembly District 6, Kings, New York; Roll: T625_1153; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 334, via Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
^Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
^Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 25047-25048). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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