Whose Birthday Is It? June 20, 2019

Lillian Hellman (1905) After working as a book reviewer, press agent, and play reader, Hellman began writing plays in the 1930s. Her first major success, The Children’s Hour, concerned two schoolteachers falsely accused of lesbianism. She examined family infighting in her hit The Little Foxes and political injustice in Watch on the Rhine. All were made into successful films. Hellman was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952. What happened when she refused to testify? More…