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IMDbPro

Herbert J. Biberman(1900-1971)

  • Writer
  • Director
  • Producer
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Herbert J. Biberman
Herbert J. Biberman, the progressive producer, director and screenwriter now best known as one of the Hollywood Ten who were blacklisted by the American Film Industry for refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was born on March 4, 1900 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Educated at the University of Pennsylvania and Yale, Biberman entered his family's textile business after a journey to Europe. In 1928, Biberman joined the left-wing Theater Guild as an assistant stage manager, beginning his professional career in the arts. He married actress Gale Sondergaard in 1930.

Biberman became a director with the Theater Guild, and entered the movie industry as a dialog director on Colmbia Pictures' Eight Bells (1935) in 1935. He made his first picture that year, directing One-Way Ticket (1935) for B.P. Schulberg Productions and Columbia. Ironically, it would be producer B.P. Schulberg's son Budd Schulberg, an ex-communist, who would be one of his chief accusers in the Hollywood show trials of the late 1940s.

Biberman was arraigned before HUAC in 1947, where he was one of 19 unfriendly witnesses who refused to answer the Committee's inquiry into their political affiliations. The 19 eventually became the Hollywood Ten, as others of the 19 dropped away, including such luminaries as Bertolt Brecht, who left the U.S. for East Germany. Under the advice of lawyers with Communist Party affiliations, the Ten decided to adopt a common front and defy the committee by refusing to or deny the allegations that they were communists. In 1950, Biberman was fined and sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of Congress. Biberman's wife, the Oscar-winner Gale Sondergaard, was similarly accused and refused to testify. She also was blacklisted.

In 1954, Biberman directed the independently produced, left-wing motion picture Salt of the Earth (1954), a fictionalized account of a miners; strike in Grant County, New Mexico. Working with other blacklisted movie professionals, including screenwriters Michael Wilson (who wrote the picture) and Paul Jarrico (who produced it), the film starred such progressive actors as Will Geer. It was made against tremendous odds, including opposition from Hollywood and the government. A chronicle of the terrible working conditions faced by miners in New Mexico, the film had the official backing of the local miner's union and employed real workers and their families. However, other unions, involved in a Cold War fight in the 1950s against communist-dominated domestic unions and Communist Party-affiliated union organizers (a fight that began in Hollywood immediately after World War II, when returning veterans fought back against trade guilds that had become infiltrated by organized crime during their war service), refused to show the film because Biberman was still blacklisted. It was screened only once, in New York, before being blackballed from exhibition in the U.S. for 11 years.

Biberman released the film in Europe where it won awards in France and Czechoslovakia. In 1965, the film was finally released in the U.S. market. "Salt of the Earth" has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Biberman and Sondergaard had two children. They remained married until his death from bone cancer on June 30, 1971. Blacklisted for a quarter-of-a-century, Sondergaard finally found work in Hollywood after her husband's death.
BornMarch 4, 1900
DiedJune 30, 1971(71)
BornMarch 4, 1900
DiedJune 30, 1971(71)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Awards
    • 1 win & 1 nomination

Known for:

Juan Chacón and Rosaura Revueltas in Salt of the Earth (1954)
Salt of the Earth
7.4
  • Director
  • 1954
Stephen Boyd, Ossie Davis, and Dionne Warwick in Slaves (1969)
Slaves
4.9
  • Writer
  • 1969
Lloyd Bridges, Nancy Gates, Osa Massen, and Gigi Perreau in The Master Race (1944)
The Master Race
5.9
  • Writer
  • 1944
Arturo de Córdova, Woody Herman, Marjorie Lord, and Dorothy Patrick in New Orleans (1947)
New Orleans
6.8
  • Writer
  • 1947

Credits

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IMDbPro

Writer

  • Stephen Boyd, Ossie Davis, and Dionne Warwick in Slaves (1969)
    Slaves
    • writer
    • 1969
  • Arturo de Córdova, Woody Herman, Marjorie Lord, and Dorothy Patrick in New Orleans (1947)
    New Orleans
    • from an original story by
    • 1947
  • Charles Boyer, Charles Coburn, and Irene Dunne in Together Again (1944)
    Together Again
    • story (as Herbert Biberman)
    • 1944
  • Lloyd Bridges, Nancy Gates, Osa Massen, and Gigi Perreau in The Master Race (1944)
    The Master Race
    • from a story by
    • screenplay
    • 1944
  • George Sanders, Lenore Aubert, and Virginia Bruce in Action in Arabia (1944)
    Action in Arabia
    • original screenplay (as Herbert Biberman)
    • 1944
  • Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne in When Tomorrow Comes (1939)
    When Tomorrow Comes
    • Writer (uncredited)
    • 1939
  • J. Carrol Naish, Akim Tamiroff, and Anna May Wong in King of Chinatown (1939)
    King of Chinatown
    • story
    • 1939

Director

  • Stephen Boyd, Ossie Davis, and Dionne Warwick in Slaves (1969)
    Slaves
    • Director
    • 1969
  • Juan Chacón and Rosaura Revueltas in Salt of the Earth (1954)
    Salt of the Earth
    • Director
    • 1954
  • Lloyd Bridges, Nancy Gates, Osa Massen, and Gigi Perreau in The Master Race (1944)
    The Master Race
    • Director
    • 1944
  • Edward Arnold, Victor Jory, Joan Perry, and Lionel Stander in Meet Nero Wolfe (1936)
    Meet Nero Wolfe
    • Director (as Herbert Biberman)
    • 1936
  • One-Way Ticket (1935)
    One-Way Ticket
    • Director (as Herbert Biberman)
    • 1935

Producer

  • Juan Chacón and Rosaura Revueltas in Salt of the Earth (1954)
    Salt of the Earth
    • co-producer
    • 1954
  • Arturo de Córdova, Woody Herman, Marjorie Lord, and Dorothy Patrick in New Orleans (1947)
    New Orleans
    • associate producer
    • 1947
  • Randolph Scott and Ann Dvorak in Abilene Town (1946)
    Abilene Town
    • associate producer
    • 1946

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative name
    • Herbert Biberman
  • Born
    • March 4, 1900
    • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
  • Died
    • June 30, 1971
    • New York City, New York, USA(bone cancer)
  • Spouse
    • Gale Sondergaard1930 - June 30, 1971 (his death, 2 children)
  • Other works
    Active on Broadway in the following productions:
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Biographical Movie
    • 1 Portrayal
    • 1 Article

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    Blacklisted in 1950s as one of the "Hollywood Ten".

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