| Matthew 'Matt' Cvetic | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 4, 1909 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. |
| Died | July 26, 1962 (aged 53) |
| Occupation | FBI Counterspy |
| Years active | 1941–1950 |
| Known for | I Was a Communist for the FBI, Anti-Communist Activities |
| Spouse | Divorced |
| Children | Twins |
Matthew Cvetic (March 4, 1909 - July 26, 1962) was a Pittsburgh native who was asked by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to join the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA) as an informant in the 1940s. He told his story in a series in the Saturday Evening Post, and his experiences were then fictionalized in the old time radio show I Was a Communist for the FBI, adapted for a Warner Brothers motion picture in 1951. He testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s.
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Matt Cvetic was born in 1909 to Slovenian immigrants living in Pittsburgh.
In 1941, during World War II, he volunteered to join the Army but was rejected due to his short stature. He came to the attention of the FBI which offered him the opportunity to penetrate the American Communist Party which he did in 22 months.
Cvetic belonged to a Pittsburgh branch of the CPUSA, and later testified against party leader Steve Nelson in Nelson's 1951 trial for sedition. He also became nationally recognized for his testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee. By the mid-1950s, however, Cvetic's personal life was in a shambles, as his wife had divorced him and most of his friends and family were alienated during his undercover years. He died in 1962.
On July 15, 22, and 29 of 1950 Cvetic published his story in serial format in the Saturday Evening Post. The serials were written by Pete Martin. They told the story of his life from his recruitment in 1941 and of his actions as a communist for the FBI.
In the Spring of 1952 Frederick W. Ziv Company presented I was a Communist for the FBI as a radio serial. The series had Dana Andrews as the voice of Cvetic and also had a $12,000 budget which was a significant amount for a radio show.
The show had the tagline, "I'm a communist for the FBI, I walk alone."
In the series, Cvetic is an undercover agent of the FBI who infiltrates many Communist spy rings within the United States. Cvetic poses as a faithful party member to gain information on Communist plots designed to destroy America. Except for his superiors in the FBI, no one, not even members of Cvetic's family, knows that he is merely posing as a Communist.
Warner Bros. purchased rights to the Post story and released I Was a Communist for the FBI on May 5, 1951. Although the story was highly fictionalized the film was nominated for an Academy Award for "Best Documentary".
In November of 1959 the first editions of "The Big Decision" were published. This was Cvetic's personal account of his actions as a counterspy, many of the names in the story were changed to protect identities.