Born into a
Jewish family in
New York City, Cole was the son of
Polish immigrants. His father was a
Marxist garment industry union organiser, and Lester developed his
socialist ideology at a young age. He began his career as an actor but soon turned to screenwriting. His first work was
If I Had a Million. In 1933, he teamed with
John Howard Lawson and
Samuel Ornitz to establish the
Screen Writers Guild, and in 1934 he joined the
Communist Party (CPUSA). Cole incorporated left-leaning political commentary in many of his scripts. He replied that it wasn't a simple "Yes|No" matter but required a more complete response that he had prepared in a written statement. But unlike most other HUAC witnesses, Cole was not permitted to read his statement into the
Congressional record because his statement was harshly critical of the House committee itself. After a few minutes of back-and-forth, HUAC Chairman
J. Parnell Thomas realized they were at an impasse and excused the witness. As a result of his refusal to cooperate with the HUAC, Cole was
blacklisted by studio executives. In the next couple of decades, only three of his screenplays—submitted under the pseudonyms Gerald L.C. Copley, Lewis Copley, and J. Redmond Prior—were made into films. The best-known of the three was for the highly successful
Born Free (1966), credited to Gerald L.C. Copley.
Personal life Cole was married three times. His first two marriages ended in divorce and he separated from his third wife. He married his first wife Jeanne “Jonnie” March in 1935. Together they joined the Communist Party. The couple had two sons and divorced in 1953. He was then briefly married to Isabel (Dowden) Johnson, who later married
Alger Hiss. Cole and Katharine Hogle married in 1956 and separated in 1977. ==Later life==