Hay, Harry

Biography

Henry (Harry) Hay Jr. was born in 1912 in Worthing, England, to American parents; his father, Henry Hay Sr., managed mining interests in South Africa, then in Chile. When an accident in 1916 ended the elder Hay's career, the affuent family moved to Los Angeles, where Harry Hay spent his youth. Hay attended Stanford University for two years, then dropped out in 1932 and sought work as an actor and screenwriter in Depression-era Los Angeles. Hay was drawn to the cooperative ideals and political activism of the communist party at this time, but distanced by its prohibition of homosexuality among members. In 1938 he married friend and party member Anita Platky in an effort to adapt to the social conditions of party membership; the couple moved to New York a year later. When the United States entered the Second World War they returned to Los Angeles, where Hay found work as an industrial engineer (materials manager) in the war-time aircraft industry.

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