15. Some of Hoover’s files spanned decades, and covered personal and political activities
The FBI file on Charles Chaplin, a beloved American film producer and actor from the silent era until the 1950s, included investigations under the White Slave Traffic Act. The FBI, under Hoover’s direction, sought to have Chaplin charged with transporting underage women across state lines for sexual purposes. Chaplin escaped prosecution under the Slave Trade Act, but found himself under investigation for several decades due to his belonging to what Hoover believed to be communist-leaning organizations, some little more than fronts for the support of Josef Stalin to Hoover’s way of thinking. Chaplin’s files remained active from 1922 to 1978, years after Hoover died.
Errol Flynn was likewise investigated under the White Slave Trade Act, with a file on the actor opened in the 1940s, and expanded when Flynn was the victim of an extortion attempt. Former radio broadcaster Paul Harvey, who always shared with his listeners “the rest of the story”, once inadvertently entered a secure area in 1951, leading to an investigation (and file) that chronicled his personal life. American actor and 1950s icon Rock Hudson was the subject of intensive investigations, likely due to his hidden sexual orientation. Actor/dancer Gene Kelly was the subject of extensive investigations by the FBI as well, including his sex life, due to the belief that he was an associate of left-wing groups with ties to the Soviets. All of the above individuals and hundreds more had their civil rights as Americans violated by Hoover’s zealous determination to ensure moral rectitude in American society.