J. Edward Bromberg was a founding member of the legendary Group
Theatre. His appearance being rather short and stocky, Bromberg from
the start was known as a character actor who was very respected by his
peers. He was primarily a stage actor but in the mid-thirties made his
way into film where he further enhanced his reputation as a diverse
character actor.
In 1950 he was accused of being a communist and ordered to appear
before the House Committee of Un-American Activities. He plead the 5th
amendment refusing to answer questions as was his right. He was also
named as a communist by film director Edward Dmytryk. Bromberg was then
blacklisted and could no longer appear in films. The trauma of all that
he went through took a terrible toll on his health. While working on a
play in England, J. Edward Bromberg died of a heart attack just before
his 48th birthday.
At a memorial service for Bromberg, actress Lee Grant was asked to give
one of the eulogies. Ms. Grant, a close friend of Bromberg's was fresh
on the heels of her great successes in the stage and film productions
of "Detective Story" (garnered her a Critic's Circle Award, the Cannes
Film Festival award for Best Actress and an Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award Nomination as the "Shoplifter".) Ms. Grant knowing the
awful pressures exerted upon J. Edward and the possible fallout that
was wreaking havoc in the film community gave a moving eulogy. This
eulogy was printed in "Red Channels" and effectively squelched Ms.
Grant's film career for many years. It was her small but wonderfully
played role as Mrs. Colbert in Norman Jewison's "In the Heat of the
Night" that revived her film career. Such was only two of the numerous
tragedies done to American Artists of the time.
