Joshua Shelley

Joshua Kurzweil
BornJanuary 27, 1920
DiedFebruary 16, 1990 (aged 70)
OccupationActor

Joshua Shelley (born Joshua Kurzweil; January 27, 1920 – February 16, 1990[citation needed] ) was one of the actors blacklisted by movie studios as a result of the House Un-American Activities Committee's (HUAC) investigation of the Communist Party in Hollywood in 1952. He did not begin to again work regularly in Hollywood until 1973 when his career restarted.

Career

A member of The Actors Studio from its inception in 1947,[1] Shelley worked frequently on stage, both on and off Broadway, during his Hollywood exile. Shelley's onscreen work, both pre- and post-blacklist, was confined primarily to television. Nonetheless, two career highlights remain Shelley's enthusiastically received 1949 feature film debut in City Across the River,[2][3][4][5] as well as the blacklist-related 1976 film, The Front, notable for reuniting Shelley with several fellow blacklistees, including cast members Zero Mostel, Herschel Bernardi, and Lloyd Gough, screenwriter Walter Bernstein and director Martin Ritt,[6] the latter also a fellow Actors Studio member.[7]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1949 City Across the River Theodore 'Crazy' Perrin
1949 Yes Sir, That's My Baby Arnold Schultze
1974 The Front Page Cab Driver
1975 Funny Lady Painter
1975 The Apple Dumpling Gang Phil 'Broadway Phil'
1976 All the President's Men Al Lewis
1976 The Front Sam
1980 Little Miss Marker Benny
1986 Quicksilver 'Shorty'

References

  1. ^ Garfield, David (1980). "Birth of The Actors Studio: 1947-1950". A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. p. 52. ISBN 0-02-542650-8. Also [in Lewis' class were] Henry Barnard, Jay Barney, John Becher, Philip Bourneuf, Joan Chandler, Peter Cookson, Stephen Elliott, Robert Emhardt, Joy Geffen, William Hansen, Will Hare, Jane Hoffman, George Keane, Don Keefer, George Matthews, Peggy Meredith, Ty Perry, Margaret Phillips, David Pressman, William Prince, Elliot Reid, Frances Reid, Kurt Richards, Elizabeth Ross, Thelma Schnee, Joshua Shelley, Fred Stewart, John Straub, Michael Strong, John Sylvester, Julie Warren, Mary Welch, Lois Wheeler, and William Woodson.
  2. ^ Cohen, Harold V.: "The New Film: Bad Boys Again In 'City Across River' At Harris". The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. May 9, 1949.
  3. ^ Januzzi, Gene: "Local Scrapping". The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. July 20, 1949.
  4. ^ Ward, Henry: "New Faces Show Up In Movies: Unknowns Click With Customers". The Pittsburgh Press. August 14, 1949
  5. ^ "Oakdale Theater Report: Josh Shelley Scores; Real Broadway Talent" The Bridgeport Sunday Herald. July 11, 1954.
  6. ^ Booker, M. Keith (2007). "Communism, Anticommunism, and the Blacklist". From Box Office to Ballot Box: The American Political Film. Westport, CN: Praeger Publishers. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-275-99122-7. Joshua Shelley blacklist.
  7. ^ Garfield, David (1980). "Appendix: Life Members of The Actors Studio as of January 1980". A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. p. 280. ISBN 0-02-542650-8.


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