Lester Cole came from a family that was unapologetically socialist. His parents immigrated from Poland, bringing their Marxist philosophy with them. His father was a union organizer, who enjoyed the freedom to espouse his views freely in his adopted country, a freedom that would be seemingly taken away from his son.
Lester originally thought that he'd be an actor, but he quickly decided to become a screenwriter. He established himself as a clutch screenwriter who could punch up any script. During his first 15 years of screenwriting, he would write over 40 screenplays and establish the Writer's Guild. After he declined to appear before HUAC, only three of his scripts would be produced until he passed away at age 81. (And those were only produced after being submitted under a pseudonym.) Lester would be jailed for ten months for refusing to appear before HUAC. Again, being a communist or joining the communist party was not and never was illegal. Lester, like the rest of the Hollywood Ten, was being persecuted primarily for his political views, which was anathema to the very same principals that HUAC was claiming to protect.
Interestingly enough, his biggest hit was made after he remained on the blacklist. Written under a pseudonym, the G Rated family film Born Free was loved by both critics and audiences alike. The very same audiences who might not have patronized the film had they known its pedigree.
