Herbert Biberman

Herbert J. Biberman (March 4, 1900 – June 30, 1971) was an American stage performer, screenwriter, and film director, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Joseph and Eva Biberman. His brother was the American artist Edward Biberman. Biberman attended Central High School in Philadelphia before enrolling at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1921 and was selected to deliver the Ivy Oration at the commencement ceremony. He subsequently studied at the Yale School of Drama from 1924 to 1926, where he was among the first acting students to train under George Pierce Baker.

In the late 1920s, Biberman performed in productions associated with The Theatre Guild and participated in founding its Studio Theatre for experimental work alongside Cheryl Crawford and Harold Clurman. His Broadway performing career spanned 1928 to 1929 and included appearances in Faust, the play Red Rust — a Russian work about an abusive Communist leader — and the play Karl and Anna. By 1930, Biberman had transitioned to directing on Broadway, helming the American premiere of Sergei Tretyakov's Roar, China! and the world premiere of Lynn Riggs's Green Grow the Lilacs, the play that later served as the basis for the musical Oklahoma!

Biberman subsequently moved to Hollywood, where his writing credits included King of Chinatown (1939), When Tomorrow Comes (1939), Action in Arabia (1944), and New Orleans (1947). He also directed One Way Ticket (1935), Meet Nero Wolfe (1936), and The Master Race (1944), the last of which he also wrote. In 1930, he married actress Gale Sondergaard, and the marriage lasted until his death.

In 1947, the House Committee on Un-American Activities launched an investigation into the film industry. Biberman was among ten Hollywood writers and directors — collectively known as the Hollywood Ten — cited for contempt of Congress after refusing to answer questions about their affiliation with the American Communist Party. Evidence presented at the hearings indicated Biberman had been a party member since at least 1944. He served six months in prison for his contempt conviction and was subsequently blacklisted by Hollywood studios. His membership in the Directors Guild of America was stripped in 1950.

Working independently following his release, Biberman directed Salt of the Earth (1954), a fictionalized account of a zinc miners' strike in Grant County, New Mexico. The screenplay was written by Michael Wilson and the film was produced by Paul Jarrico, both of whom were also blacklisted. The film received extremely limited release in the United States. The United States Library of Congress later deemed Salt of the Earth culturally significant and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

A 2000 film titled One of the Hollywood Ten chronicled Biberman's blacklisting and the making of Salt of the Earth from his perspective, with Jeff Goldblum portraying Biberman and Greta Scacchi portraying Sondergaard. The film noted in its closing credits that Biberman had never been formally removed from the blacklist, and that Sondergaard had not found work in Hollywood until shortly before his death. Biberman's membership in the Directors Guild of America was posthumously restored in 1997. He died of bone cancer on June 30, 1971, in New York City.