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| Wilson Family Plot (photo Michael Colbruno) |
The Wilson family plot: Buried here is Jackson Stitt Wilson, the socialist Mayor of Berkeley, died 1942; Violette Wilson, a noted B-actress, died 1964; McGrew Willis, a successful writer in the early days of Hollywood and husband of Viola Berry, Stitt Wilson daughter and a noted actress of the day; and, Irving Pichel, an actor and director who was blacklisted, died 1954
PLOT 2, Lot 249
Jackson Stitt Wilson (1868 - 1942) was a leading Christian Socialist in America and the mayor of the city of Berkeley, California from 1911 to 1913.
J. Stitt Wilson (he went by his middle name) was born in Canada on March
19, 1868, the son of devout Methodist parents. He emigrated to the U.S.
in 1888, settling in Evanston, Illinois and attending Northwestern
University, working after graduation as a schoolmaster and for a law
firm. Wilson later decided to enter the Methodist ministry, enrolling at
the theological seminary at Northwestern. Following completion of his
schooling, Wilson worked for the next four years as a Methodist pastor
and social worker in nearby Chicago.
Stitt Wilson was a delegate from California to the 1904, 1910, and 1912
national conventions of the Socialist Party. At that 1912 gathering
Wilson joined with Ernest Untermann, Joshua Wanhope, and Robert Hunter
as a majority of the Committee on Immigration in offering a resolution
on immigration which was pro-exclusionary, backing the American
Federation of Labor in its desire to stop manufacturers from importing
cheap, non-union labor from the Far East.This proposal, primarily
written by Untermann and Wanhope, was effectively killed by the
convention on a motion by Charles Solomon of New York not to receive the
committee's report, but rather to hold the matter open for
investigation and decision by the next convention.
Before he became mayor of Berkeley, Wilson ran for governor of
California in 1910 on the Socialist ticket and received 12% of the votes
cast. Wilson was elected Mayor of Berkeley in 1911 to a two-year term
but declined to run for re-election. Instead, he was elected to the
governing National Executive Committee of the SP in 1914.
During the Great Depression, Wilson was appointed to the California
State Relief Commission. In 1932, he was the Socialist candidate for the
Congressional district which included Berkeley (7th), and in 1936 and
1940, he was a delegate to the Democratic Party convention.
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| Wilson Family Home designed by Bernard Maybeck |
Wilson was married to Emma Agnew and had four children. His two sons were William Gladstone and Melnotte. His two daughters, Gladys Viola and Violette, both went into show business. Gladys took the stage name "Viola Barry". Wilson lived at 1745 Highland Place in Berkeley in a house designed by Mountain View Cemetery denizen Bernard Maybeck. [View the post about Viola Barry HERE]
Wilson died on August 28, 1942.
Irving Pichel (1891–1954), whose name was pronounced “Pitch-ell,” belonged to that rare class of Hollywood figures whose career bridged stage, screen, and politics—and who paid a price for all three. Born in Pittsburgh on June 24, 1891, and educated at Harvard, Pichel came of age intellectually as much as artistically. His marriage to Violette Wilson, daughter of Berkeley’s reformist Socialist mayor Jackson Stitt Wilson, placed him squarely within a milieu where art, politics, and social conscience were inseparable.
Pichel first made his reputation as an actor of striking presence and voice. He was memorable as Sandor in Dracula’s Daughter, as Fagin in the 1933 Oliver Twist, and in supporting roles such as Huger in Jezebel. His voice alone carried authority—he narrated John Ford’s She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, lent narration to How Green Was My Valley, and even voiced Jesus in The Great Commandment. Yet acting was only one facet of a broader creative life. By the 1940s he had become a director of considerable range, capable of moving from fantasy (Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid, complete with one of the more curious Hollywood co-stars—a trained squirrel used for comic effect) to prestige drama (The Miracle of the Bells) to early science fiction (Destination Moon), the latter winning an Academy Award for special effects and helping define the genre’s visual language.
But Pichel’s work was never merely entertainment. He brought to Hollywood a distinctly intellectual and moral sensibility, shaped in part by his Jewish identity and by a commitment to social themes that increasingly set him apart in an industry wary of controversy. That sensibility was on full display in the 1940 film originally titled I Married a Nazi (released as The Man I Married), one of the earliest openly anti-Nazi films produced by a major studio. At a time when many in Hollywood hesitated to confront Germany directly, Pichel pushed forward a film that depicted the insidious spread of Nazi ideology within a family and the moral collapse that followed. Contemporary coverage described it as a “frank, starkly dramatic” portrayal of Hitlerism’s impact on ordinary life. That a Jewish director was behind such a project was no accident; it reflected both personal conviction and a willingness to use film as a vehicle for warning as well as storytelling.
You can watch Destination Moon in it's entirety:
This same inclination toward socially conscious filmmaking would later draw the attention of the House Un-American Activities Committee. In 1947, Pichel was called before HUAC as one of the so-called “unfriendly witnesses.” Though he was not among the Hollywood Ten and avoided imprisonment, his association with liberal causes, labor organizations, and films perceived as politically charged marked him for suspicion. As summarized in contemporary accounts, his inclusion stemmed largely from his history of directing films with strong social or anti-fascist themes and his affiliations with liberal groups . The result was effectively the same as for many others: he was blacklisted.
The blacklist did not end his career outright, but it broke its momentum. Like many in his position, Pichel was forced to seek work abroad, spending time in Europe to continue directing when opportunities in Hollywood evaporated. When he eventually returned to the United States, the damage had been done. He directed a handful of later films—including Martin Luther (1953) and Day of Triumph (1954)—but the scale and influence of his earlier work were never fully regained. The stigma lingered, quietly but persistently reshaping the final chapter of his professional life.
Parallel to his film career, Pichel maintained a strong connection to Berkeley and to the intellectual traditions that had shaped him. He lectured, wrote, and remained engaged with theater and education, bringing a scholar’s approach to drama that reflected his Harvard training and early stage work. He was, in many respects, more than a Hollywood figure—he was part of a broader cultural world that included academia, civic life, and political discourse.
Pichel is also remembered for his eye for talent. He is often credited with helping to discover Natalie Wood and character actor Charles Lane, further extending his influence beyond his own performances and films. His career, taken as a whole, reveals a man who moved easily between mediums and roles: actor, director, narrator, teacher, and cultural participant.
On July 13, 1954, just a week after completing Day of Triumph, Irving Pichel died of a heart attack. He was 63. His death closed the career of a figure whose legacy is not only in the films he left behind, but in the example of an artist who insisted—sometimes at great personal cost—that cinema could engage with the moral crises of its time.
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| Violette Stitt Wilson |
Wilson was a gifted stage and silent-era performer whose career unfolded during one of the most transformative periods in American entertainment. She began acting at a young age and quickly found work in stock companies, touring productions, and early motion pictures—industries that were expanding rapidly as vaudeville faded and Hollywood rose.
Wilson appeared in a range of dramatic and comedic roles, earning praise for her expressive style and her ability to shift between ingénue parts and more emotionally layered characters. Though many of her films are now lost, contemporary reviews noted her poise, versatility, and natural screen presence, qualities that helped her flourish during a time when women were carving out significant space in the performing arts.
After stepping away from the screen, Wilson continued to remain connected to the arts world while building a quieter life in the Bay Area. She lived for many years in Oakland, where she became part of the region’s cultural and social fabric, remembered by friends for her warmth, sharp wit, and fond stories of the early days of film.
