Over the years, the FBI has monitored individuals that it believed could potentially pose a threat to national security by creating comprehensive files on them.

This includes not only criminals and politicians but also celebrities, scientists, and cultural figures, some of whom are some of the most prominent names in modern American history.

In some cases, these famous figures were considered as Communist spies or potential Nazi secret agents. Some of them also faced suspicion due to their views on Civil Rights or American foreign policy and war.

The FBI would initiate a file on anyone they believed wasn’t a true American.

The FBI files of these historical figures have now been released to the public, although it took some time and effort to get them to open up their archives.

Here are some of these famous figures who had an FBI file on them.

Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin was a lovable clown to his fans and a silent film superstar in the 1920s. He was one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood and a very rich man.

But the FBI thought otherwise and hounded him relentlessly, eventually banning him from the country that made him a star.

The FBI compiled 2,000 pages of notes on Chaplin, as its Director J. Edgar Hoover suspected him of having Communist sympathies.

The file mentioned that even after living in the US for more than 30 years, he had declined to take American citizenship, and it listed his friendships and working relationships with several other left-leaning individuals.

Moreover, Chaplin spoke at the National Council of American Soviet Friendship in the early 1940s, where he said: “There is a great deal of good in communism. We can use the good and segregate the bad.”

As the years passed, the FBI had more evidence to add to the file, including Chaplin’s being named in four indictments related to a paternity case brought against him in 1942, which he was acquitted of, but it resulted in a PR disaster and turned public opinion against him.

He continuously stressed that he was not a Communist, but the FBI asked Britain’s MI5 for evidence they could use against him, and they found nothing.

However, the FBI eventually succeeded in banning him from entering the US in 1953. Chaplin chose not to challenge the order and lived in Switzerland until his death in 1977.

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe was an actress, model, and sex symbol and was as well known for her personal life as she was for her movie work.

The FBI worked tirelessly in the 1950s and 1960s to try and find evidence of her Communist sympathies, despite her public persona as the ultimate All-American Girl.

The detailed dossier the FBI compiled on Monroe showed how paranoid and suspicious American society was at the time of the McCarthy trials.

The FBI believed that many stars of stage and screen, including Monroe, were actively working to undermine American values through culture.

The file mostly relied on guilt by association, with Monroe’s involvement with known Communist individuals, her opinions on political and social issues, and her views on the American way of life.

However, the FBI failed to find any evidence of her Communist sympathies, and Monroe remained a beloved icon until her death in 1962.

Jimi Hendrix

The file on Jimi Hendrix, the guitar legend, was created in 1969 when the Canadian authorities requested the FBI’s assistance in finding evidence to support their plan to deport Hendrix from the country.

The FBI investigated Hendrix’s history and uncovered that he had been stopped for driving a car without permission eight years prior, but could not find any evidence of past drug-related incidents.

Despite their efforts, the charges against Hendrix in Canada were dropped and the FBI file turned out to be of little use.

A section of the file addressed rumors that Hendrix would put LSD in his bandana, but no evidence was found to support this claim.

Andy Warhol

The FBI file on Andy Warhol, totaling 80 pages, focused on the 1968 filming of Lonesome Cowboys. The FBI was concerned with rumors that the film would include explicit sex scenes or offensive material.

The file contained witness statements from those involved with the film, but no evidence of obscenity was found and the U.S. Attorney’s office declined to press charges.

Warhol was not further investigated by the FBI for the rest of his life and the file was made public in 2011, but only posted on the FBI website for a few weeks due to lack of public interest.

Nikola Tesla

The FBI file on Nikola Tesla, the Serbian-born inventor and businessman, was finally released in 2016.

The FBI agents rushed to Tesla’s property after his death in 1943 and took away two truckloads of documents, including notebooks and other material.

The file contained reports from the early days of Tesla’s business career and showed that the FBI had concerns about Tesla’s inventions, particularly the “Death Ray”.

The file also contained reports about Tesla’s activities during World War II and the FBI’s investigation of his work for the government.