Herbert Knott Sorrell (April 18, 1897 – May 7, 1973) was an American labor leader and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

union organizer. He headed the

Conference of Studio Unions Hollywood Black Friday, or Hollywood Bloody Friday, is the name given, in the history of organized labor in the United States, to October 5, 1945. On that date, a six-month strike by the set decorators represented by the Conference of Studio Un ...

(CSU) in the late 1940s, and was the business manager of the Motion Picture Painters union, Local 644 until the 1950s.

Early life

At 12. he found employment in a sewer pipe factory in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...

, and later in Oakland he worked with union leader

Harry Bridges Harry Bridges (28 July 1901 – 30 March 1990) was an Australian-born American union leader, first with the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA). In 1937, he led several chapters in forming a new union, the International Longshore an ...

. At one point he tried boxing as a career. He moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

in 1925, became a scenery painter for the movie studios, and joined the local painters union. In April 1937, his union local was one of those unaffiliated with

IATSE The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada, known as simply the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE or ...

which formed the Federation of Motion Picture Crafts (FMPC). The same month, the FMPC went on strike against the

major studios Major film studios are production and distribution companies that release a substantial number of films annually and consistently command a significant share of box office revenue in a given market. In the American and international markets, th ...

. In the picket line at

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

, Sorrell's determination earned him the rank of "picket captain", and the attention of Blayney F. Mathews, head of Warner Brothers' security, who had him arrested. He was never charged and was released several days later. This notoriety led to his subsequent position as the business representative for the painter's union and as a result he became one of the major negotiators who settled the strike in June.

Conference of Studio Unions

In May 1941, Sorrell called for a strike against the Disney film studio.Denning, Michael (1997) ''Cultural Front: The Laboring of American Culture in the Twentieth Century'' Verso, London, ; The strike was supported by the newly formed Screen Cartoonist's Guild, and the cooperation resulted in the organization of the

(CSU), which Sorrell proceeded to lead.Horne, Gerald (2001) ''Class Struggle In Hollywood, 1930-1950: Moguls, Mobsters, Stars, Reds, & Trade Unionists'' University of Texas Press, Austin, TX; 0-292-73137-X In 1945, Sorrell lead the CSU strike that led to

Hollywood Black Friday Hollywood Black Friday, or Hollywood Bloody Friday, is the name given, in the history of organized labor in the United States, to October 5, 1945. On that date, a six-month strike by the set decorators represented by the Conference of Studio Uni ...

. The strike originated from a dispute between two unions,

CSU CSU may refer to: * Channel service unit, a Wide area network equivalent of a network interface card * Chari Aviation Services, Chad, by ICAO airline code * Christian Social Union (UK), an Anglican social gospel organisation * Christian Social ...

and

, over which one of them had union authority over 77 set decorators. After an National Labor Relations Board vote and War Labor Board decision in favor of CSU, the studios refused to recognize CSU's bargaining authority, and the strike began. After violence on Black Friday, the strike quickly settled. However, collusion between the IATSE leadership and the studiosFriedrich, Otto (1986) ''City of Nets: A Portrait of Hollywood in the 1940s'' Harper and Row, New York resulted in another strike in September 1946, which the CSU did not have the financial strength to endure. Sorrell was convicted of "

contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the cour ...

" and "failure to disperse" in connection with the 1945 strike but acquitted of all of the felony charges. which included "inciting to riot" and "rioting."

Communist ties

In 1941 and again in 1946, Sorrell testified before the California Legislature's Joint Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities (the Tenney Committee), but there was insufficient evidence that he was tied to the Communist Party. The CSU strike of 1945, which Sorrell had led, was actively opposed by the

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Rev ...

. In 1947,

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

testified before the House Committee on Un-American Activities that he "believed at that time that Mr. Sorrell was a Communist because of all the things that I had heard and having seen his name appearing on a number of Commie front things." Sorrell is also responsible for the rumor of Disney's anti-Semitism, possibly as retaliation for testifying to the committee on Un-American Activities. In 1953, in an actor's lawsuit, Sorrell testified that he was never a communist, but he felt free to spend communist money.Staff (1953) "Sorrell on Stand Denies Red Ties" ''Los Angeles Times'' (September 30, 1953), p. A-2

References

Sources

* Pintar, Laurie C. (1996) "Herbert K. Sorrell as the grade-B hero: militancy and masculinity in the studios" ''Labor History'' 37(Summer): pp. 392–416 * "Painters Strengthen Labor Ties" in December 1941 ''Screen Actor Magazine''.

External links

Excerpt from ''Reagan's War: The Epic Story of His Forty-Year Struggle and Final Triumph Over Communism'' by Peter Schweizer
''Washington Post'' November 25, 2002;
"Review of ''Class Struggle In Hollywood, 1930-1950: Moguls, Mobsters, Stars, Reds, & Trade Unionists''" ''Politics and Culture'' by Amitava Kumar and Michael Ryan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorrell, Herb 1897 births 1973 deaths Victims of McCarthyism Trade unionists from California People from Henry County, Missouri