Final answer:
The Hollywood Ten were a group of film industry professionals blacklisted for refusing to testify before HUAC about Communist influences in Hollywood during the late 1940s, leading to their imprisonment and significant career impacts.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Hollywood Ten refers to a group of individuals in the film industry who were called to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) in October 1947 regarding suspected Communist influences. When eleven "unfriendly witnesses" were summoned, only playwright Bertolt Brecht cooperated fully. The other ten refused to testify, citing their Fifth Amendment rights, and were cited for contempt of Congress. Subsequently, they were imprisoned and blacklisted in Hollywood, leading to significant impacts on their careers, with some never working in the industry again or having to do so under assumed names. Their resistance to HUAC's investigation into communism in Hollywood cinema played a significant role in the broader context of the Red Scare and McCarthyism.