Gale
Sondergaard was
born in Litchfield,
Minnesota, on 15th February, 1899. She became an actress and while
working for the Theatre Guild met and married Herbert
Biberman. The couple moved to Hollywood and she
acted in 38 films in thirteen years. This included Anthony
Adverse
(1936), The
Life of Emile Zola (1937),
Sons
of Liberty
(1939), The
Mark of Zorro
(1940), A
Night to Remember
(1943), and Road
to Rio (1947).
After the Second World War
the House of Un-American Activities Committee
began an investigation into the Hollywood Motion Picture Industry.
In September 1947, the HUAC interviewed 41 people who were working
in Hollywood. These people attended voluntarily and became known as
"friendly witnesses". During their interviews they named
several people who they accused of holding left-wing views. This included
Gondergaard and her husband Herbert Biberman.
Biberman appeared before the HUAC on 29th October, 1947, but like,
Alvah Bessie, Lester
Cole, Albert Maltz, Adrian
Scott, Dalton Trumbo, Edward
Dmytryk, Ring Lardner Jr., Samuel
Ornitz and John Howard Lawson, he
refused to answer any questions. Known
as the Hollywood
Ten,
they claimed that the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution
gave them the right to do this. The
House of Un-American Activities Committee
and the courts during appeals disagreed and all were found guilty
of contempt of Congress and Herbert Biberman
was sentenced to six months in Texarkana Prison and fined $1,000.
Blacklisted by the studios, Sondergaard did not appear in another
Hollywood film until Savage Intruder in 1968. This was followed
by Slaves (1969),
Pleasantville (1976), The
Return of a Man Called Horse (1976) and
Echoes
(1983). Gale Sondergaard
died on 14th August, 1985.
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