Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, prose writer, memoirists and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway, as well as her communist sympathies and political activism. She was blacklisted after her appearance before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) at the height of the anti-communist campaigns of 1947–1952. Although she continued to work on Broadway in the 1950s, her blacklisting by the American film industry caused a drop in her income. Many praised Hellman for refusing to answer questions by HUAC, but others believed, despite her denial, that she had belonged to the Communist Party.As a playwright, Hellman had many successes on Broadway, including Watch on the Rhine, The Autumn Garden, Toys in the Attic, Another Part of the Forest, The Children's Hour and The Little Foxes. She adapted her semi-autobiographical play The Little Foxes into a screenplay, which starred Bette Davis. Hellman became the first female screenwriter to receive an individual Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1941. Three years prior, Joan Harrison had been nominated alongside Charles Bennett.
Hellman was romantically involved with fellow writer and political activist Dashiell Hammett, writer of the classic detective novels The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man, who also was blacklisted for 10 years. The couple never married.
Beginning in the late 1960s, and continuing through to her death, Hellman turned to writing a series of popular memoirs of her colorful life and acquaintances. Hellman's accuracy was challenged in 1979 on The Dick Cavett Show, when Mary McCarthy said of her memoirs that "every word she writes is a lie, including 'and' and 'the'." Hellman brought a defamation suit against McCarthy and Cavett, and during the suit, investigators found errors in Hellman's Pentimento. They said that the "Julia" section of Pentimento, which had been the basis for the Oscar-winning 1977 movie of the same name, was actually based on the life of Muriel Gardiner. Martha Gellhorn, one of the most prominent war correspondents of the twentieth century, as well as Ernest Hemingway's third wife, said that Hellman's remembrances of Hemingway and the Spanish Civil War were wrong. McCarthy, Gellhorn and others accused Hellman of lying about her membership in the Communist Party and of being a committed Stalinist.The defamation suit was unresolved at the time of Hellman's death in 1984; her executors eventually withdrew the complaint. Hellman's modern-day literary reputation rests largely on the plays and screenplays from the first three decades of her career, and not on the memoirs published later in her life.
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Some of their strengths
Lillian Hellman has many admirable traits.
Based on spiritual traditions from around the world, they are someone who can be described as Energetic, Sophisticated, Charming, Intelligent, Passionate, Communicative, and Organized.
Charming and Quick-witted
According to Mysticism’s Astrology tradition, Lillian Hellman is someone who is a charming, quick-witted, and energetic person who combines passion and intelligence with an ability to feel what others are feeling and to effectively communicate with them. A person who is ambitious and motivated.
Active and Precise
Based on Daoism’s Ba-Zi or ‘Chinese Zodiac’ tradition, people who know Lillian Hellman well know them as someone who can be tough, active, and sharp, like a sword.
Methodical and Exacting
According to Hinduism’s Jyotisha or ‘Vedic Astrology’ tradition, many would also describe Lillian Hellman as someone who is careful, methodical, and a perfectionist.
A person who forms successful business partnerships, who appreciates the variety the world has to offer, who takes a frugal approach to life and tends to be a workaholic, and who engages in things that let them express their opinion.
Intelligent and Leadership-oriented
Based on the Mayan Tzolk’in or ‘Mayan Astrology’ tradition, Lillian Hellman is someone who is able to see things that others don't, and who can be an effective guide or mentor to others.
They are also someone who is intuitive, imaginative, and an agent of change, and who is always dreaming of life's great possibilities and partnering with people to try to achieve those possibilities.
Logical and Reasonable
According to Judaism’s Kabbalah tradition, Lillian Hellman tends to be someone who is understanding, logical, and reasonable. Who can be intellectual and intuitive, speak the truth at any cost, be witty and sociable, and live life to its fullest.
Some of Lillian Hellman's challenges
While Lillian Hellman has many strengths, nobody is perfect. They also have some challenging traits they need to manage.
For example, Lillian Hellman can be Hypocritical, Rebellious, Perfectionist, Self-centered, Emotionally Distant, Difficult, and Sensitive.
Hypocritical and Self-centered
One of Lillian Hellman's key challenges is that they are someone who can be perceived as hypocritical and self-centered.
Sensitive and Critical
Lillian Hellman is someone who can be insecure, critical, and pessimistic, who can have difficulty relaxing, can be possessive and jealous, and who can have difficulty listening to others' opinions and perspectives and make hasty decisions.
Indecisive and Distracted
Finally, Lillian Hellman also can have a hard time staying focused and can easily become restless.
