Abraham Polonsky, American director and screenwriter (died 1999)

Abraham Lincoln Polonsky was an American film director, screenwriter, essayist and novelist. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Body and Soul (1947). The following year, he wrote and directed Force of Evil (1948), which was later hailed by Martin Scorsese and others as one of the finest achievements of American film noir. However, it was to be Polonsky's last credited film for more than twenty years. In April 1951, he refused to cooperate or "name names" to the House Un-American Activities Committee and was blacklisted by the movie studios.