Richard Collins: Blacklisted Hollywood writer dies

Richard Collins, a writer and producer who was blacklisted during the 1940s communist witch-hunts and later "named names" before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), has died.

His death in Ventura, California, at the age of 98 was confirmed by his son Michael, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Collins was one of 19 Hollywood writers and directors called by HUAC in 1947.

He went on to have a 30-year career as a writer and producer on such TV shows as Bonanza and Matlock.

Collins was not asked to testify in 1947 and was not one of the "Hollywood 10" who were subsequently jailed for refusing to cooperate.

That list included Dalton Trumbo, who wrote the Oscar-winning Stanley Kubrick film Spartacus.

Subpoenaed again in 1951, Collins identified more than 20 colleagues as communist sympathisers - among them Budd Schulberg, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of On the Waterfront, who went on to name names himself.