Who was Lillian Hellman?
Lillian Hellman was a strong-willed outspoken woman, who although she only wrote 12 plays became one of the leading voices of American Theatre and a role model for women playwrights for generations. She maintained a political life almost as dramatic as her plays, organizing a union for script readers in Hollywood, visiting Spain during its Civil War, smuggling money to German dissidents attempting to oust Hitler.
In 1952, Hellman stared down the Committee on Un-American Activities and watched them blink. Yes, she was blacklisted in Hollywood and yes, she was forced to sell her home when served with a large unexplained tax bill, but in spite of her invoking her Fifth Amendment Rights and basically calling the Committee "inhumane and indecent and dishonorable," Hellman was otherwise excused after she refused to name friends and colleagues who may have had Communist ties. In comparison, the Committee sentenced her companion, mystery writer Dashiell Hammett, to prison for six months for virtually the same behavior.
How did Hellman get her start on Broadway?
It happened in Hollywood. Hellman moved to California in 1930 with her husband Arthur Kober, a playwright. She got a job at MGM reading scripts, a dull job she thought, but it offered her the opportunity to click into a network of writers and other creative people, including Hammett. Within two years, she divorced her husband and began a 30-year relationship with the much older writer. It was Hammett who encouraged her to write her first play: "The Children's Hour," a story of how a child ruins the lives of two school teachers by spreading rumors that they have a lesbian relationship.
Hellman hit Broadway with a bang, shocking audiences in 1934 with her frank treatment of lesbianism. However, when trying to convince Samuel Goldwyn to buy the screen rights to the play, she insisted, "It's not about lesbians. It's about the power of a lie." The play ran on Broadway for nearly 700 performances. It has been filmed twice.
"The Little Foxes" is Hellman's most well known play. Written in 1939, the story of a southern family struggling and backstabbing each other to gain control of a cotton mill after the Civil War not only rallied against capitalism and greed, but it explored the family dynamics and the individual motives of the characters. Hellman's ability to blend politics with individual human stories can be seen throughout her work and reveals the complexity of the playwright's own personality.
"The Little Foxes" ran for over 400 performances and Samuel Goldwyn didn't have to be convinced to buy the screen rights. Hellman wrote the screenplay for the film in 1941 and received her first Oscar nomination. Her second Oscar nomination came two years later for "The North Star."
How was Hellman able to recover from being on Hollywood's Blacklist?
She returned to the theatre. To raise money after losing her house to pay that punitive tax bill, Hellman staged a revival of "The Children's Hour," then she set back to writing. She adapted several works for the stage, including a musical version of Voltaire's Candide, with music from Leonard Bernstein. It would be almost 10 years before Hellman wrote an original play, and again Hammett would be the one who initiated it. "Toys in the Attic" opened in 1960. The story about two sisters and their ne'er-do-well brother was later made into a film with Dean Martin and Geraldine Page.
She continued to write and speak out against injustices as she encountered them. Excited by the rise of student activism in the 1960s, Hellman began teaching writing at various colleges, including the University of New York, Yale and Harvard, and often defended student protestors. She founded the Committee for Public Justice in 1970 to create "an early warning system" to monitor violations of constitutional rights, among other things. She continued to support many organizations financially and with her time and energy.
Finally, Hellman published a trilogy of memoirs beginning with An Unfinished Woman in 1969. Some critics claimed that the books were so inaccurate, she should have published them as novels, while others remarked at their artistry and insight. Pentimento, published in 1973, was the basis of the film "Julia." Scoundrel Time (1976) discussed her activism and her call to testify before the Committee on Un-American Activities.
Hellman died in 1984 at the age of 79, but not before garnering a National Book Award, two New York Drama Critics Circle Awards, two Oscar nominations and many other awards and honors.
You can find her three memoirs and some of her plays still available in print today. Many of the film adaptations are also still available on DVD or VHS.
Sources: American Masters Series (PBS), Moonstruck Drama Bookstore, Pegasos, Perspectives in American Literature, Theatre Database
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