In the golden era of 1950s Hollywood, Lee Grant was on the cusp of stardom. She was young, beautiful, and immensely talented, earning critical acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Detective Story (1951). Hollywood had its next big star—or so it seemed. But within a few short years, Grant went from being a rising luminary to a Hollywood exile,
her career derailed not by scandal, poor performances, or box office failures, but by something far more insidious—the infamous Hollywood blacklist,The blacklist, a dark chapter in the history of American cinema, was a product of the McCarthy era’s anti-communist fervor. During this period, Hollywood was gripped by fear as the U.S. government and the media began to target those suspected of having communist sympathies. Screenwriters, directors, actors, and other industry professionals found themselves blacklisted.