Bernard Gordon | Blacklisted writer, 88

Bernard Gordon, 88, a screenwriter blacklisted during Hollywood's anticommunist crusade in the 1950s, died Friday at his Hollywood Hills home after a long battle with cancer, according to his daughter, Ellen Gordon.

Mr. Gordon wrote dozens of movies, but many never carried his name until the Writers Guild of America began restoring credits to blacklisted writers in 1980. About a dozen of Mr. Gordon's credits were restored, more than any other writer, said Dave Robb, a longtime friend.

Among them was Mr. Gordon's co-writing credit on 1957's Hellcats of the Navy, which starred Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan.

Mr. Gordon's movies included 55 Days at Peking, Battle of the Bulge and the 1962 science fiction cult classic, Day of the Triffids, along with low-budget fare like Zombies of Mora Tau.

In the 1950s, Mr. Gordon was subpoenaed to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee, which was investigating Communist influence in Hollywood. He was never called to appear but an acquaintance named him before the committee and he was fired from a studio and blacklisted, along with hundreds of other film industry workers. He worked under other names for years.

In 1999, Mr. Gordon took the lead in protesting the awarding of an honorary Oscar to director Elia Kazan, who had named names before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

"He helped to support an oppressive regime that did incalculable damage to America and abroad," Mr. Gordon later wrote in the Los Angeles Times.

Mr. Gordon wrote two books: 1999's Hollywood Exile, or How I Learned to Love the Blacklist, and 2004's The Gordon File: A Screenwriter Recalls Twenty Years of FBI Surveillance, which was based on his 300-page FBI file.- AP