Madeline Lee Gilford (born Madeline Lederman; May 30, 1923 – April 15, 2008) was an American film and stage actress and

social activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in Social change, social, Political campaign, political, economic or Natural environment, environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes i ...

, who later enjoyed a career as a

theatrical producer A theatrical producer is a person who oversees all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The producer is responsible for the overall financial and managerial functions of a production or venue, raises or provides financial backing, and hire ...

. Gilford was married, secondly, to actor Jack Gilford from 1949 until his death in 1990.

Early career

Gilford was born in the New York City borough of the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

on May 30, 1923 to

Polish Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the lon ...

immigrant parents. She began working as a child actress when she was just three years old. Her elder sister, Frances Lederman (September 28, 1910 — February 13, 2010), was an actress, known professionally a
Fran Lee
Madeline Lee reportedly appeared in the early '' Our Gang'' episode reels, which were shot in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

in the 1920s. Copies of the original cast list are hard to verify as many records have been lost. She later worked as an actress on radio, appearing as a regular on ''The Henry Morgan Show'' in the 1946-47 season, and stage, performing in the play, ''Embezzled Heaven'', with Ethel Barrymore in 1944. A documentary is in production in Los Angeles entitled, ''Calling All Women'' about her life as an activist and her work as a producer and organizer of events for Civil Liberties causes such as

SNCC The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, often pronounced ) was the principal channel of student commitment in the United States to the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Emerging in 1960 from the student-led sit-ins at segreg ...

and anti-war protest movements. The film was directed by her grandson, Max Smerling, and features interviews with Richard Dreyfuss,

Bob Balaban Robert Elmer Balaban (born August 16, 1945) is an American actor, author, comedian, director and producer. He was one of the producers nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for ''Gosford Park'' (2001), in which he also appeared. Balab ...

Lily Tomlin Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin (born September 1, 1939) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She started her career as a stand-up comedian as well as performing off-Broadway during the 1960s. Her breakout role was on the varie ...

, Norman Lear, James Cromwell,

Martin Sheen Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. He first became known for his roles in the films ''The Subject Was Roses'' (1968) and ''Badlands'' (1973), and later achieved wid ...

Valerie Harper Valerie Kathryn Harper (August 22, 1939 – August 30, 2019) was an American actress. She began her career as a dancer on Broadway, making her debut as a replacement in the musical ''Li'l Abner''. She is best remembered for her role as Rho ...

, and

Carl Reiner Carl Reiner (March 20, 1922 – June 29, 2020) was an American actor, stand-up comedian, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned seven decades. He was the recipient of many awards and honors, including 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, ...

Social activism

Gilford began her social activism early in life. She organized the National Student Union at Walton High School in the Bronx, for which she was expelled from the school. Gilford met her future husband, Jack Gilford, at a political meeting for left wing causes in 1947. The couple were married in 1949 and remained together for forty years until Jack's death in 1990. (Both husband and wife had left their original spouses for each other during the late 1940s.)

McCarthy Era

Both Madeline and Jack were

subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...

ed and blacklisted during the

McCarthy Era McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term origina ...

for much of the 1950s. Both were specifically named by choreographer

Jerome Robbins Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. Among his nu ...

during his

testimony In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. Etymology The words "testimony" and "testify" both derive from the Latin word ''testis'', referring to the notion of a disinterested third-party witness. ...

before the House Un-American Activities Committee. She was subpoenaed to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1953. A 1953

article Article often refers to: * Article (grammar), a grammatical element used to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness * Article (publishing), a piece of nonfictional prose that is an independent part of a publication Article may also refer to: G ...

by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' reported that she cited the

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

, Fourth Amendment, Fifth Amendment and Eighth Amendments to the United States Constitution to resist Congressional questioning. At the same hearing, she was questioned about a 1942 May Day Parade in which she had participated. According to ''

'', she purportedly retorted to the HUAC committee, "Look, I'm a comedian, not

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronat ...

. The words 'recant', 'confess', 'you're a heretic' are not exactly my dish", although such a response would have violated her right to claim the Fifth Amendment. Jack Gilford also testified at the same hearing as his wife. Both actors had trouble finding work in the entertainment industry during much of the rest of the 1950s and McCarthy Era due to the

Hollywood blacklist The Hollywood blacklist was an entertainment industry blacklist, broader than just Hollywood, put in effect in the mid-20th century in the United States during the early years of the Cold War. The blacklist involved the practice of denying empl ...

. Lee found some work, often offscreen, during this time. In a 2003 interview with ''

The Forward ''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ...

'', she noted that, "There was no Broadway blacklist." The couple borrowed money from friends to make ends meet. The couple made their professional comeback during the post-McCarthy Era of the early 1960s. Jack Gilford made his comeback in the 1962

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

of '' A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum''. The production costarred Zero Mostel, a close friend of the couple, but was choreographed by

, who had testified against the Gilfords in 1953. Several years later, Lee encountered Jerome Robbins at a New Year's Eve party. According to ''A Journal of the Plague Years'', a 1973 book by Stefan Kanfer, Madeline reportedly told Robbins with a toast that "1953 can kiss my ass".

Later career

Madeline Lee Gilford continued her role as a

following the McCarthy Era. She took a leading role in demonstrations during the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

of the 1960s. Gilford stood very close to main platform for the 1963 '' I Have A Dream'' speech by

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

at the Lincoln Memorial. Many years later she was arrested for civil disobedience in 1999 while protesting the police shooting of

Amadou Diallo In the early hours of February 4, 1999, an unarmed 23-year-old Guinean student named Amadou Diallo (born September 2, 1975) was fired upon with 41 rounds and shot a total of 19 times by four New York City Police Department plainclothes offic ...

in New York City. Gilford co-authored a

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

in 1978 with Kate Mostel, the wife of Zero Mostel, entitled ''170 Years in Show Business''. The book told the story of the professional and personal lives of the two couples, including their encounters with other showbiz celebrities ranging from

Dorothy Parker Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist based in New York; she was known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. From a conflicted and unhap ...

Lotte Lenya Lotte Lenya (born Karoline Wilhelmine Charlotte Blamauer; 18 October 1898 – 27 November 1981) was an Austrian-American singer, diseuse, and actress, long based in the United States. In the German-speaking and classical music world, she is best ...

. During the 1980s, Gilford became a Broadway

theater producer A theatrical producer is a person who oversees all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The producer is responsible for the overall financial and managerial functions of a production or venue, raises or provides financial backing, and hire ...

and

casting director In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra for a particular role or part in a script, screenp ...

. She co-produced the 1982 play, '' The World of Sholom Aleichim'', which starred her husband, as well as the unsuccessful

Broadway musical Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

Rags Rag, rags, RAG or The Rag may refer to: Common uses * Rag, a piece of old cloth * Rags, tattered clothes * Rag (newspaper), a publication engaging in tabloid journalism * Rag paper, or cotton paper Arts and entertainment Film * ''Rags'' (1915 ...

'' in 1986. She continued to act until shortly before her death. Her most recent television credits included '' Law & Order'', while her film credits included ''

The Birdcage ''The Birdcage'' is a 1996 American comedy film directed by Mike Nichols, adapted by Elaine May, and starring Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Nathan Lane, and Dianne Wiest. Dan Futterman, Calista Flockhart, Hank Azaria, and Christine Baranski appear ...

'', '' The Savages'', '' Cocoon: The Return'' and '' That Old Feeling''. In one of her last appearances on screen, Gilford appeared in the 2008 film ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the same name, the series premiered in the United Stat ...

''.

Death

Madeline Lee died on April 15, 2008, in her apartment on Bank Street in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

, at the age of 84 from undisclosed causes. She was survived by her daughter, Lisa, two sons, Joe and Sam, and three grandchildren. Her funeral was held on April 17, 2008, at the Riverside Memorial Chapel on

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

. She was buried at Mount Hebron Cemetery in Flushing, Queens.

References

External links

*
Profile
ibdb.com; accessed September 2, 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Madeline 1923 births 2008 deaths American civil rights activists Women civil rights activists American film actresses 20th-century American memoirists American people of Polish-Jewish descent American radio actresses American stage actresses American television actresses American theatre managers and producers Jewish American actresses American casting directors Women casting directors Hollywood blacklist Actresses from the Bronx American women memoirists Activists from New York (state) 20th-century American actresses Burials at Mount Hebron Cemetery (New York City) 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women