10 Americans You Won't Believe Were Accused Of Being Communists

4. Arthur Miller

Perhaps the least-surprising name on the list, American playwright Arthur Miller was one of the most high-profile figures to be named by McCarthy as a Communist sympathiser. Interestingly, Miller was accused by author Alan M Wald of having been a member of the US Communist Party in 1946 under the pseudonym Matt Wayne, although this was never proven. This also led to Miller's former friend Elia Kazan naming the actor and seven other members of the supposedly Communist "Group Theatre" to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1952. A proponent of free speech and a prominent lefty, Miller even wrote the play The Crucible in 1952 which used the Salem witch trials of 1692 as a metaphor to highlight that McCarthy's persecution-style methods were no different to these previous acts. It intended to show that once someone is accuse of such an act, there is absolutely no chance of exoneration. Writing about The Crucible at a later date, Miller explained: "The more I read into the Salem panic, the more it touched off corresponding images of common experiences in the fifties." The HUAC denied Miller a passport to attend the opening of The Crucible in London in 1954, and he was eventually subpoenaed in 1956 to appear before the Committee, as well as being added to the Hollywood blacklist. He was found guilty of contempt of Congress in May 1957, fined $500 and sent to prison for 30 days, as well as being denied his passport. However, this was overturned the following year.