ACTORS WARNED TO TOE THE LINE

IRISH American actors opposed to the war in Iraq have been told to shut up - or face getting kicked out of Hollywood for good.

As a string of celebrities prepare to make anti-war speeches at tonight's prestigious Oscars ceremony, they have already been privately warned their careers could be in serious jeopardy.

The Screen Actors Guild fears Hollywood could be heading for a return to the dark days of the 1950s when Cold War hysteria sent Washington witch hunters searching for "commies" under every bed in Tinsel Town.

Top of the Hollywood hit list are Irish Americans Sean Penn, Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin. Not only do Penn and Sheen say they have already been pressured and penalised for their views about the war but Sheen was not sent an Oscars invitation for the first year in decades.

Mike Farrell, Screen Actors Guild officer, told The Hollywood Reporter: "There's definitely a backlash. It's an organised attempt by the right wing, and a disturbing trend.

"Organisations are suggesting that well-known individuals who express 'unacceptable' views should be punished by losing their right to work. This shocking development suggests that the lessons of history have, for some, fallen on deaf ears.

"Even a hint of the blacklist must never again be tolerated in this nation."

As we revealed last week, Sheen was sacked from a lucrative Visa television advert after condemning the war.

Now Penn has filed a lawsuit against producer Steve Bing, accusing him of pulling out of a deal for Penn to star in a film called Why Men Shouldn't Marry because of the actor's opposition to war.

Referring to the McCarthy witchhunts of the fifties - which effectively ended the career of Hollywood legends such as Charlie Chaplin - SAG added: "During this shameful period, our own industry prostrated itself before smear campaigns and witch hunters rather than standing on the principles articulated in the nation's fundamental documents.

"Today, having come to grips with its past, having repudiated the insult of loyalty oaths and examined its own failings, our industry, perhaps more than any other, understands the necessity of guarding and cherishing those rights for which Americans have fought and died."

This week the New York Post printed a McCarthy-style list of "Saddam Lovers", saying: "If you'd prefer not to support the careers of stars who want to stop the liberation of Iraq from mass murderer Saddam Hussein and his rapist henchmen, we offer this quick reference list."

Urging readers to boycott Penn's new movie Mystic River, the Post told readers: "It boasts the mother of all appeasement casts, with Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Laurence Fishburn."

Veteran actor James Caan says he wishes actors like Sheen, Penn and Baldwin would just stick to acting.

"I'm not one of these liberal Hollywood types," says the Godfather star. "I resent being lumped in with the Sean Penns and Alec Baldwins and Susan Sarandons.

"We're not all like that, y'know?"

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