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Lester Cole
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Lester Cole
Lester Cole (June 19, 1904 – August 15, 1985) was an American screenwriter. He was one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of screenwriters and directors who were cited for contempt of Congress and blacklisted for their refusal to testify regarding their alleged involvement with the Communist Party.
Born into a Jewish family in New York City, Cole was the son of Polish immigrants. His father was a Marxist garment industry union organiser, and Lester developed his socialist ideology at a young age.
He began his career as an actor but soon turned to screenwriting. His first work was If I Had a Million. In 1933, he teamed with John Howard Lawson and Samuel Ornitz to establish the Screen Writers Guild, and in 1934 he joined the Communist Party (CPUSA). Cole incorporated left-leaning political commentary in many of his scripts.
Between 1932 and 1947, Cole wrote more than forty screenplays that were made into motion pictures.
In 1947, he became one of the Hollywood Ten who refused to answer questions before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) about their Communist Party membership. Specifically, Cole was asked whether he was a member of the Screen Writers Guild and then whether he was a member of the Communist Party. He replied that it wasn't a simple "Yes|No" matter but required a more complete response that he had prepared in a written statement. But unlike most other HUAC witnesses, Cole was not permitted to read his statement into the Congressional record because his statement was harshly critical of the House committee itself. After a few minutes of back-and-forth, HUAC Chairman J. Parnell Thomas realized they were at an impasse and excused the witness.
Cole was convicted of contempt of Congress, fined $1,000 and sentenced to twelve months' confinement (along with fellow Hollywood Ten member Ring Lardner Jr.) at the Federal Correctional Institution at Danbury, Connecticut, of which Cole served ten months.
As a result of his refusal to cooperate with the HUAC, Cole was blacklisted by studio executives. In the next couple of decades, only three of his screenplays—submitted under the pseudonyms Gerald L.C. Copley, Lewis Copley, and J. Redmond Prior—were made into films. The best-known of the three was for the highly successful Born Free (1966), credited to Gerald L.C. Copley.
Cole was married three times. His first two marriages ended in divorce and he separated from his third wife. He married his first wife Jeanne “Jonnie” March in 1935. Together they joined the Communist Party. The couple had two sons and divorced in 1953. He was then briefly married to Isabel (Dowden) Johnson, who later married Alger Hiss. Cole and Katharine Hogle married in 1956 and separated in 1977.
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Lester Cole
Lester Cole (June 19, 1904 – August 15, 1985) was an American screenwriter. He was one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of screenwriters and directors who were cited for contempt of Congress and blacklisted for their refusal to testify regarding their alleged involvement with the Communist Party.
Born into a Jewish family in New York City, Cole was the son of Polish immigrants. His father was a Marxist garment industry union organiser, and Lester developed his socialist ideology at a young age.
He began his career as an actor but soon turned to screenwriting. His first work was If I Had a Million. In 1933, he teamed with John Howard Lawson and Samuel Ornitz to establish the Screen Writers Guild, and in 1934 he joined the Communist Party (CPUSA). Cole incorporated left-leaning political commentary in many of his scripts.
Between 1932 and 1947, Cole wrote more than forty screenplays that were made into motion pictures.
In 1947, he became one of the Hollywood Ten who refused to answer questions before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) about their Communist Party membership. Specifically, Cole was asked whether he was a member of the Screen Writers Guild and then whether he was a member of the Communist Party. He replied that it wasn't a simple "Yes|No" matter but required a more complete response that he had prepared in a written statement. But unlike most other HUAC witnesses, Cole was not permitted to read his statement into the Congressional record because his statement was harshly critical of the House committee itself. After a few minutes of back-and-forth, HUAC Chairman J. Parnell Thomas realized they were at an impasse and excused the witness.
Cole was convicted of contempt of Congress, fined $1,000 and sentenced to twelve months' confinement (along with fellow Hollywood Ten member Ring Lardner Jr.) at the Federal Correctional Institution at Danbury, Connecticut, of which Cole served ten months.
As a result of his refusal to cooperate with the HUAC, Cole was blacklisted by studio executives. In the next couple of decades, only three of his screenplays—submitted under the pseudonyms Gerald L.C. Copley, Lewis Copley, and J. Redmond Prior—were made into films. The best-known of the three was for the highly successful Born Free (1966), credited to Gerald L.C. Copley.
Cole was married three times. His first two marriages ended in divorce and he separated from his third wife. He married his first wife Jeanne “Jonnie” March in 1935. Together they joined the Communist Party. The couple had two sons and divorced in 1953. He was then briefly married to Isabel (Dowden) Johnson, who later married Alger Hiss. Cole and Katharine Hogle married in 1956 and separated in 1977.
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