The Most Sinful Period in Hollywood History

6:00 AM PST 11/17/2012 by Gary Baum, Daniel Miller

Sixty-five years ago, the town's studio chiefs, executives and guilds joined a communist witch hunt launched by The Hollywood Reporter's legendary owner, Billy Wilkerson. Today, in the first-ever exploration of a demagogue's mission and the lives destroyed, his son writes a formal apology for what he calls 'Hollywood's Holocaust,' joining Sean Penn, Kirk Douglas and Lee Grant in retelling their deeply personal stories.

Billy Wilkerson was nervous. it was July 1946, and The Hollywood Reporter owner, editor and publisher was preparing to embark on a landmark campaign that would expose communists working in Hollywood. He would name the alleged Reds in his "Tradeviews" column and expose this lurking menace.