New York Sunday News · Public domain

Larry Parks rose from bit parts to top billing playing Al Jolson in The Jolson Story (1946) and its sequel Jolson Sings Again (1949), performances that made him one of the era's most bankable stars. His career effectively ended in 1951 when he admitted before the House Un-American Activities Committee to having belonged to a Communist Party cell, a confession that led every Hollywood studio to blacklist him.