Main content

5. Billy's list

Communist accusations in Hollywood continue. Hollywood Reporter publisher Billy Wilkerson develops an anti-communist friendship with Howard Hughes.

Rumours of communist infiltration in the movie business had circulated for years. Showbiz insider Billy Wilkerson is the first to publicly name alleged Tinseltown “communists”, including Dalton Trumbo, in his paper, the Hollywood Reporter. William R. Wilkerson III speaks about his father’s friendship with billionaire producer Howard Hughes, a rabid anti-communist. He describes how his mostly apolitical father’s anti-communist stance was shaped by a visit to the Soviet Union. Wilkerson III recalls how his father’s close connections with stars like Jimmy Cagney gave him political influence in Hollywood. Oona Chaplin learns how future president Ronald Reagan operated as an FBI informant.

Archive

Ronald Reagan’s 'evil empire' speech, 1983, The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

Available now

30 minutes

Last on

Sat 23 Mar 202422:32GMT
BBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only

More episodes

Previous

4. Hearts and minds

Next

6. Hollywood on trial

See all episodes from Hollywood Exiles

Featured

  • .

Broadcasts

  • Wed 20 Mar 202404:32GMT
    BBC World Service
  • Wed 20 Mar 202411:32GMT
    BBC World Service
  • Wed 20 Mar 202418:32GMT
    BBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
  • Wed 20 Mar 202423:32GMT
    BBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa & BBC Afghan Radio
  • Sat 23 Mar 202402:32GMT
    BBC World Service News Internet, Europe and the Middle East & East Asia only
  • Sat 23 Mar 202422:32GMT
    BBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only

Podcast

  • Hollywood Exiles

    A story of glamour, duplicity and the FBI's battle against communism in Hollywood