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Legendary Actress Lee Grant Overcomes Decades-Long Blacklisting to Achieve Oscar Glory
31 Oct
Summary
- Lee Grant, now 100, was blacklisted in Hollywood for 12 years in the 1950s
- Refused to testify against her communist screenwriter husband, putting both their careers on hold
- Went on to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1975 for Shampoo
In October 2025, legendary actress Lee Grant celebrates her 100th birthday. But her journey to stardom was anything but smooth. At the start of the 1950s, Grant was on the cusp of major success in Hollywood, having earned an Oscar nomination for her role in the 1951 film adaptation of Detective Story. However, her professional ascent coincided with the House Un-American Activities Committee's pursuit of alleged communists in the industry.
Considered "guilty by association" due to her marriage to communist screenwriter Arnold Manoff, Grant was blacklisted from film and television for over a decade. Despite refusing to testify against her husband, Grant and Manoff found ways to work "under the table" during this period. In 1965, Grant finally returned to the screen, winning an Emmy for her role on the soap opera Peyton Place.
From there, Grant's career took off again, with acclaimed roles in films like In the Heat of the Night, Valley of the Dolls, and Shampoo, for which she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1975. Over the following decades, Grant continued to work steadily as both an actress and a director, earning further accolades including an Oscar for her documentary Down and Out in America.
