Jon Voight Says '60s When U.S. Values "Turned Upside Down"

"When I was young, my dad told me, 'You best not talk about politics or religion,' But what's more important than the way we govern ourselves and our beliefs? What are we going to talk about?" Voight tells The Hollywood Reporter.

"It was a very disturbing period of time. The left moved in, and when I say the left, I mean Marxism," Voight said in an appearance on Glenn Beck's radio show to promote his new movie 'Woodlawn.'

Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight claimed Monday that U.S. values were "turned upside down" in the '60s and argued that Vietnam War protesters were being manipulated by Communists.

"The change [in Hollywood] happened in the '60s, when the values of this country were turned upside down," said Voight, who was himself a liberal at the time, though he has since made a right turn politically.

"It was a very disturbing period of time," Voight said. "The left moved in, and when I say the left, I mean Marxism."

Voight made the remarks on Glenn Beck's radio show while promoting Woodlawn, a Christian-themed movie opening Friday that tells the true story of a high school football team dealing with desegregation in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1973. Voight plays Paul "Bear" Bryant, the former coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide.

"A lot of those people who were in the streets were being manipulated by Communists," Voight said of Vietnam War protesters. "The big marches of the '60s, aside from the Civil Rights marches, these marches against the war were all orchestrated by Communists."

Voight himself protested the Vietnam War alongside celebrities like Jane Fonda and Leonard Bernstein. In 1978, he won a best actor Oscar for his role as a paralyzed Vietnam War vet in Coming Home.

Voight said he "lamented" that there are so many left-wing messages in movies today, though he praised many superhero films for their "very strong statements for certain values."

"I don't like to lose people in the conversation," he continued, "but there is this thing about the left. I was part of it. It's a superficial wooing of young people who want to feel good all the time about things and don't want to search out the facts and make responsible choices."

Toward the end of his appearance on Monday, Voight added a dig against President Barack Obama: "People have been kind of stunned with the administration's lawlessness. ... On a daily basis we're losing pieces of America."

Video of a portion of the interview is below.

Email: Paul.Bond@THR.com