Career
Vaughn frequently played a “pleb”, or a commoner in the films she acted in. More often than not, she portrayed waitresses, maids, charwomen, governesses, saleswomen, and slaveys. Her characters were outgoing and spunky.
A fixture at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the sound era of the early 1930s, Vaughn acted in multiple films.
Senator Joseph McCarthy “publicly accused 200 ‘card carrying’ communists of infiltrating the American government.” This, along with the House Un-American Activities Acting (HUAC) of 1938, resulted in the most repressive times in 20th century American Politics. The accusations made by these groups and people were taken very seriously although they were false and could not be supported.
The “paranoid hunt for infiltrators” was especially hard on writers and entertainers like Hilda Vaughn. She and many other actors, directors, and screenwriters were pegged as communist sympathizers.
The most famous of these, “The Hollywood Ten”.
During the Witch Hunt, Hilda Vaughn was blacklisted by Joseph McCarthy. Although Vaughn made her return to film after a four year break in acting, her career never really took off again after her 1940 film, Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum.
