Posted on 02/02/2011 1:56:46 AM PST by ruination
Acting veterans Clint Howard and Morgan Brittany talk about 'coming out' in their Republican views, and how it caused one famous co-star to turn his back. It ain't easy being a Republican in Hollywood, even if your brother is an A-list director and producer. That's what actor Clint Howard told attendees at a California GOP convention over the weekend.
Howard, an actor since 1961 and the younger brother of filmmaker Ron Howard, said that while he is comfortable speaking publicly about his conservatism, his advice to Republicans looking to break into the industry is to keep their political opinions to themselves, even though Hollywood liberals seldom do.
About five years ago "I came out of the closet. In Hollywood. I certainly understand that's dangerous," he said.
"If the entertainment industry should turn on me, I'd say, 'well fine.' But for young conservatives, you may hear me speak out but let me tell you: Be careful," he said.
Howard was joined by Morgan Brittany, one of the stars of the 1980s nighttime soap opera Dallas. The pair have more than 100 years of acting experience between them (Brittany's first job was as a child in the late 1950s), and they've noted a leftward slide in the industry and an intolerance for political dissent over the decades.
"I'd go out on location with the Dallas crew," she told members of the California Congress of Republicans in Valencia on Saturday. "Everybody in the van was bashing (President Reagan). I never said anything because I thought I'd lose my job. And I probably would have lost my job. I got to a point later on, after Dallas was over and I had my two children, that I said, 'enough is enough. I'm not going to be silent any longer'," she said.
"If I'm silent then I'm enabling these people and I'm letting them win. They need to know that we're out there. That we're strong and that we have ideas and solutions.
The reaction to her newfound political courage back then wasn't pretty.
"Oh man, the flack I took from the people, the agencies -- 'oh, you can't say that. You can't do that. Casting people might see you. And directors!'"
"What is this, the blacklist?" she said. "They're not going to hire me because I have an opinion? That's the way Hollywood is and, unfortunately, I got that. But I still wasn't going to back down."
Brittany, who was one of the most visible celebrities supporting the Republican ticket of McCain-Palin over the Democratic ticket of Obama-Biden during the last presidential election, has a daughter in her 20s who is a struggling actress. Her advice to her is: "Don't tell them you're my daughter."
Brittany told of building a friendship with actor Ed Asner, a sometimes activist for progressive causes, when the two starred in a stage-play together during the infamous Florida recount that put Republican George W. Bush in the White House over Democrat Al Gore. And she told how she lost Asner's friendship due to politics.
"Every night he just loved me and came in and gave me a big hug," she said. "Then one night he was going crazy about Gore and Bush and stealing the election. I'm backstage and I said, 'Ed, chill, not everybody thinks the way you do'."
"Well, where do I begin?" I swear. It was like a light switch," she said. "He turned to me and said, 'you're not a Republican?' I said, 'yep.' And he said, 'I can't even look at you. I can't even talk to you'."
"From that moment on, he never spoke to me again, except on stage," she said. "This is what we're dealing with. The intolerance of the left."
She said that while a starlet in her 20s she met with the late Jay Bernstein, who managed the careers of Farrah Fawcett and Suzanne Somers back in the day, but the meeting went awry after Bernstein noticed the cross Brittany wore around her neck.
She said Bernstein told her: "You're going to have to lose that, honey.
In this town, you can't be religious, and you can't be conservative."
"He was a star-making manager, but I couldn't sign on with him," Brittany said.
As for Howard, he said he avoids talking politics while on the set, even though the other side shows less restraint. While shooting Frost/Nixon, for example, he got so sick of an outspoken liberal actor (whom he wouldn't name) "spewing venom" that he finally told him to "knock it off."
"I had to listen to a lot of it, but I never thought the workplace was the right time to get into it," he said.
He also said politics never comes between him and his liberal brother Ron.
"I have a wonderful older brother. It's a shame he sits on the wrong side of the dinner table," he said. "It never gets uncomfortable with Ron and I. We just differ politically and that's okay. He's just wrong and I'm right. I believe that in my heart of hearts."
Ah yes, Bob Hope! A Patriot in Hollywood if ever there was one!
This 40 yr old actress was so insecure about a 20 yr old Bristol Palin speaking at a college on abstinence, she whipped up the lefties at the college to boycott her....and won.
Bristol cancelled.
...forgot to add Walsh is a big Planned Parenthood supporter.
Ed Ass ner is a real POS. I’ve never met Morgan Brittany, but her brother is a contractor down here in South Orange County. Nice guy and I can’t say I ever heard anyone say anything bad about him, I’m sure he’s a conservative also.
I think you just made Clint and Morgan’s point !
“I have a wonderful older brother. It’s a shame he sits on the wrong side of the dinner table,” he said. “It never gets uncomfortable with Ron and I. We just differ politically and that’s okay. He’s just wrong and I’m right. I believe that in my heart of hearts.”
Describes my brother and myself to a T.
Jim doesn't want FR used to promote Romney, because Romney is not a conservative.
It's that simple. And all of your attempts at moral equivalence fail to obscure that.
I am sorry, but I have no idea who either one happens to be.
Ron Howard played Opie on Andy Griffith. Clint Howard, Ron’s younger brother, was the child star in 1960’s TV series ‘Gentle Ben’ (like Lassie) about a kid and his pet bear (if you are old enough to remember). He also had cameo appearances on Mayberry as “Leon”, shown at the end of this clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps_HEoyEyQQ
And hollywood types complained about Mccarthyism. Typical leftist hypocrites, they complain loudest about things that they themselves are doing.
Hey! Another one for Jim Rob.
This is Jim Rob’s home. He runs it as he sees fit. Why don’t conservatives support Romney? It’s because he supported and funded babykilling in Romneycare.
But of course principled opposition is bigotry.
“(if you are old enough to remember). also had cameo appearances on Mayberry as “Leon”, shown at the end of this clip”
Well, I am 66, and remember Andy Griffith, but I was never a big TV addict or fan.
I do, however, remember our first TV, when my city, Memphis, had only one TV station, WMCT (NBC)
When at home, I spent my time on my ham radio.
She’s sure purdy, ain’t she?
When are conservatives going to realize that someone with a leftist, freedom hating, reality denying, take what you want at the point of a gun view is NOT OK. This is not a matter of opinion. It is a matter of fact and logic.
LLS
Back in the 70s I lived in Hollywood and brushed up against quite a few actors. I used to print promo packs with quality photos for their resumes or whatever they called them. I got invited to some parties and stuff like that. Anyhoo I can’t say that many actors are especially intelligent. Apparently being able to read isn’t important either. Though I will say that a lot of them are actually really nice people, just not the sharpest knives in the drawer. I think that for most of them politics is something that they parrot, like everything else, because they think it will forward their careers. Really most are so stupid that they really believe that a budget increase that is reduced from 5% to 3% is a “cut”.
Fortunately when actors support political figures it usually works against the pols. Most voters think actors are jokes. It doesn’t matter what non-voters think. Matters not at all.
_ _... ..._ _
In Hollywood, you can be a child molesting drug addicted whackjob, and that’s perfectly fine. But be a conservative and let it be known, and you’ll never work in that town again.
Not even close, pal.
I have never once seen either of those programs, and I don’t even know who Kate Walsh is. But thanks for the heads up. I will definitely avoid anything she’s in in the future.
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