About Screen Actors Guild

Screen Actors Guild is the nation’s largest labor union representing working actors. Established in 1933, SAG has a rich history in the American labor movement, from standing up to studios to break long-term engagement contracts in the 1940s to fighting for artists’ rights amid the digital revolution sweeping the entertainment industry in the 21st century. With 20 branches nationwide, SAG represents nearly 120,000 actors who work in motion pictures, television, commercials, industrials, video games, Internet and all new media formats. The Guild exists to enhance actors’ working conditions, compensation and benefits and to be a powerful, unified voice on behalf of artists’ rights. SAG is a proud affiliate of the AFL-CIO. Headquartered in Los Angeles, you can visit SAG online at www.sag.org.

MISSION STATEMENT

The Screen Actors Guild represents its members through:

(A) Negotiation and enforcement of collective bargaining agreements that establish equitable levels of compensation, benefits, and working conditions

for performers.

(B) The collection of compensation for exploitation of their recorded performances and protection against unauthorized use.

(C) The preservation and expansion of work opportunities.

Screen Actors Guild FACT SHEET

Current President: Alan Rosenberg

National Executive Director: Doug Allen Secretary-Treasurer: Connie Stevens Total Membership: 120,000

Founded: 1933 Headquarters: 5757 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90036. Divisions: Hollywood, New York and Regional Branch (20 Branches Nationwide)

Union Affiliates: AFL-CIO, AAAA

Jurisdiction: Covers working conditions, compensation and benefits for performers working in film, television, industrials, commercials, video games, music videos and other new media.

Alan Rosenberg

Screen Actors Guild President

Biography After a first term successfully promoting unity in the Guild and leading the membership through the challenges of new technology, Alan Rosenberg was re-elected president of Screen Actors Guild on September 20, 2007. Rosenberg greeted the victory with a recommitment to “fight like hell to get actors their fair share,” and to prepare the union to prevail in this critical time for working actors and the American labor movement. A true actor’s actor, Rosenberg has earned a formidable list of credits encompassing the stage, motion pictures and television. His best-known credits include his portrayal of Eli Levinson on the 1990s courtroom series Civil Wars – a character so popular it was reprised on the hit TV series L.A. Law. Rosenberg also won legions of fans for his portrayals of Ira Woodbine, the amiable ex-husband of Cybill Shepherd, on the sitcom Cybill, and Alvin Masterson on The Guardian. On film, Rosenberg memorably portrayed the apostle Thomas in Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ. And on Broadway, Rosenberg performed in Lost In Yonkers, among other credits. In 1995, he received an Emmy nomination for his guest role as an ailing cardiac patient on NBC’s ER. More recently, Rosenberg has lent his talents to recurring appearances on CSI and to Fox’s House, MD. Yet his passions take him well beyond his craft. A native of Passaic, New Jersey, entertainment and social justice are blended in Rosenberg’s DNA. His father, a businessman, was also a swing band musician. His older brother, Mark, a former president of Warner Bros., was a prominent civil rights activist, and his sister-in-law is the highly acclaimed producer Paula Weinstein. He cites his brother, who passed away in 1992, as an enormous influence on his life and outlook. “I came of age in the sixties,” Rosenberg explains, a time during which he was highly involved in the civil rights movement and protested the Vietnam War. “I fell in love with acting and became politically active simultaneously. I am passionate about the need for social and political change and believe our art can help transform the world. I learned back then that large groups of people can achieve amazing things when bound together by a just cause. I also learned that you have to be bold in standing up for what you believe.” Rosenberg first became active in union politics as a New York stage actor. He recalls earning his Actors’ Equity card as “one of the proudest moments of my life” and became even more active after then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan fired striking air traffic controllers. He first ran for the national board of Screen Actors Guild in the wake of the September 11th attacks, unhappy with the country’s direction.

Rosenberg is married to actress Marg Helgenberger (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation), whom he first met while making an appearance on the ABC soap opera Ryan’s Hope. They were married in September 1989 and have a son, Hughie. Rosenberg also is active in the fight against ALS, also known as “Lou Gehrig’s disease.” Rosenberg was elected to the Guild presidency by his fellow actors on a platform that called for greater openness in union governance and a tougher stand against networks and studios for fair compensation. His vision for SAG is one of “strength, self-worth and solidarity.” After all, he reminds his fellow actors, “We are the product. They can’t do this without us.”

Connie Stevens Screen Actors Guild Secretary-Treasurer

Biography

Connie Stevens was re-elected as Screen Actors Guild’s National Secretary-Treasurer on September 20, 2007. She is the primary elected liaison for the Guild’s budgetary and financial matters, serves as chair of the Finance Committee, and is a member of the Strategic Planning Committee and National Executive Committee. A SAG member since May 1957, Stevens’ acting career began with roles in the films Eighteen and Anxious, starring Jim Backus; Young and Dangerous and Party Crashers. She later starred as Cricket Blake in the TV series Hawaiian Eye, which ran on ABC for four years and made Stevens a household name and appeared with Troy Donahue in a series of films including Parrish and Palm Springs Weekend. In 1982 she returned to the 60s with a role in Grease 2 starring Michelle Pfieffer. Some of Stevens’ other films include Back to the Beach with Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, and Tapeheads, starring Tim Robbins and John Cusack. On television, Stevens starred opposite George Burns in the popular TV series Wendy and Me. Her TV career also includes roles in Starting from Scratch, Scruples, Bring me the Head of Dobie Gillis, Murder She Wrote and The Love Boat. Recently she has appeared on Titus, 8 Simple Rules and Fat Actress. In recognition of her humanitarian efforts, she has been honored with the 1991 Lady of Humanities award from the Shriners Hospital and was named Humanitarian of the Year by the Sons of Italy in Washington DC in 2000. She has also been recognized for her service by The Vietnam Veterans Association of America, and has received the Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service from the United States Armed Forces—the highest honor that can be bestowed on a civilian.

Doug Allen Screen Actors Guild National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator

Biography

Doug Allen was appointed National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator for Screen Actors Guild in January 2007. He is the Guild’s head of day-to-day operations and oversees all executive, operational, functional and financial matters. A skilled and experienced union executive, he also leads Screen Actors Guild’s bargaining team. Allen previously served as Assistant Executive Director of the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) from 1987 to 2007. At the NFLPA, he helped to found PLAYERS INC, the union’s successful marketing and licensing corporation. As president of PLAYERS INC, Allen oversaw all operations of the $100 million per year subsidiary. He was also a key member of the NFLPA’s 1993 bargaining team and was instrumental in the negotiation of the 1993 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the NFLPA and the National Football League (NFL), and subsequent extensions of that CBA through 2006. Prior to NFLPA, Allen was the regional director for the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education (COPE) for the states of New York and New Jersey from 1976 to 1981. Allen earned his Bachelor of Arts in Labor Studies and Industrial Relations from Pennsylvania State University. He was a starting linebacker on the school’s undefeated 1973 team that ultimately won the 1974 Orange Bowl. Later that year, Allen was a second round draft selection for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, where he played two seasons at linebacker and served as the team’s Alternate Player Representative on the NFLPA’s Board of Player Representatives.

SCREEN ACTORS GUILD NATIONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS–2007-2008

September 25, 2007

NATIONAL OFFICERS

Alan Rosenberg, President Connie Stevens, Secretary-Treasurer

NATIONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS HOLLYWOOD DIVISION Angeltompkins Reneé Aubry Bonnie Bartlett Justine Bateman Joe Bologna Seymour Cassel Joanna Cassidy Alternate National Directors: 1st Karen Austin 2nd Peggy Miley 3rd Scott Wilson 4th France Nuyen 5th Brett Cullen Angela Bullock Paul Christie Maureen Donnelly Alternate National Directors: 1st Mark Blum 2nd Manny Alfaro

George Coe Anne DeSalvo Morgan Fairchild Frances Fisher Leigh French Elliott Gould Valerie Harper 6th Ron Harper 7th Jane Austin 8th F.J. O’Neil 9th Yale Summers 10th Anthony DeSantis Sam Freed Nancy Giles Traci Godfrey 3rd Ralph Byers 4th Joe Narciso

Sumi Haru Robert Hays Anne-Marie Johnson William Katt Lainie Kazan Diane Ladd Piper Laurie 11th Peaches Johnson 12th Paul Napier 13th Eugene Boggs 14th Michael Bell 15th Steven Barr

NEW YORK DIVISION Mike Hodge Jack Landrón Richard Masur 5th Dave Bachman 6th Ron McClary

William Mapother Kent McCord Esai Morales Barbara Niven Harrison Page William Russ Susan Savage 16th David Jolliffe 17th Russell McConnell 18th Warren Berlinger 19th Terrence Beasor 20th Jeff Austin Sue-Anne Morrow Jay Potter Matt Servitto 7th Doug Lory 8th Marc Baron

Nancy Sinatra Renee Taylor Angela Watson JoBeth Williams Jenny Worman 21st Justin Shenkarow 22nd Joe d’Angerio

Sharon Washington Liz Zazzi 9th Kevin Scullin

REGIONAL BRANCH DIVISION ARIZONA Steve Fried BOSTON Will Lyman CHICAGO John Carter Brown Todd Hissong COLORADO David Hartley-Margolin

DALLAS Suzanne Burkhead DETROIT Ed Kelly FLORIDA Dave Corey Nancy Duerr GEORGIA Debra Nelson

HAWAII Jim Hutchison HOUSTON Henry Kana NASHVILLE Cece DuBois NEVADA Art Lynch

NEW MEXICO Roy Costley PHILADELPHIA Helen McNutt PORTLAND Mary McDonald-Lewis SAN DIEGO Virginia Hawkins

SAN FRANCISCO Tom Chantler SEATTLE Abby Dylan UTAH Molly Ballard WASHINGTON, D.C. Stephen Schmidt

The Actor's Road to Empowerment

by Ken Orsatti, 1995 National Executive Director, 1981 - 2001

Imagine working on a film with unrestricted hours, no enforced turn-around and no required meal breaks. Imagine working under a seven-year contract that you cannot break and more than likely will be forced to renew, for a producer who can tell you who you can marry, what your morals must be, even what political opinions to hold. This was Hollywood for actors in 1933 under the studio system. Rebel against the studio and you were in for a hard time, better to quit while you're ahead. Fortunately, a group of actors risked their careers to start the Screen Actors Guild. Studio boss Irving Thalberg swore he would die before accepting the Guild. In 1936, Thalberg died and in 1937, the studios accepted defeat and signed a contract with the Guild that, for the first time in Hollywood, gave actors a sense of empowerment. But the road to empowerment did not end in 1937. While the Guild had won actors better working conditions, the studios still basically "owned" their stars. As there was a tacit agreement among studios not to raid each other for a stars services at their contracts end, actors were not able to choose their roles which is crucial in building a career. Help came, however, in the form of actresses who were no longer willing to accept the absolute power of the studios over their destiny. After her triumph in Gone With the Wind (1939), Olivia de Havilland rebelled for better roles and was put on six-month suspension, and when Warner’s refused to release her from her seven year contract at the end of its term by claiming that the term of her suspension should be added on to her contract, she sued and won in the landmark "de Havilland decision" opening up to negotiation the studios "term-contract." A few years later (1948), the Supreme Court dealt another fatal blow to the studios in its anti-trust Paramount Decree ordering that the motion picture industry be broken up, clearing the way for independents to enter the industry. Suddenly, actors had the power to control their own careers. When Jimmy Stewart negotiated to work on Winchester '73 (1950) for a percentage of gross receipts, he set a precedent for star deal power that is still in force today. While there was reason to rejoice at the empowerment stars enjoyed with the dissolution of the studio system, for the non-star contract players, risk and insecurity were the inevitable side effects. The great dominant parents had sent their children out into the world to fend for themselves: guaranteed employment as it existed with the old studio contract was obsolete. However, while the studios were gone, a more benign guardian angel remained to fill the void in the form of the Screen Actors Guild. With the advent of television, the studio system was dealt its final blow. SAG was able to win rights for actors through its first commercials contract in 1953, residual payments for television reruns in 1952 and, in 1960, after a strike, residuals for films shown on television. With the implementation of the Pension and Health Plan, won in the 1960 negotiation, and residual gains, SAG's role in filling the studio system void and finding the means to empower its members was well on its way. In 1969 the Guild board, "cognizant of the innate desire and need of actors to practice their craft, even under disadvantageous conditions" and "to encourage employment opportunities for Guild members," proposed the first low-budget theatrical contract. It was approved by the largest membership vote in the history of the Screen Actors Guild. Today, the freedom and power for stars brought about by the demise of the studio system, is evident in the fact that most stars have their own production companies becoming, in essence, their own mini-studios. The actor who produces, directs, initiates his/her own projects is no longer a phenomenon but an accepted part of the industry.

“In their Own Words” ROBERT MONTGOMERY. Screen Actors Guild President 1935 - 1938 “Few of us realize that we have founded an institution. It does not belong to any group or clique of actors; it belongs to all of us. It does not even belong to the present generation of actors. If we have built solidly, it belongs to the future as well as the present, not only to those now playing, but also to those who have not yet made their entrance upon the scene.” - excerpted from statement to the Board of Directors, October 1937 EDDIE CANTOR. Screen Actors Guild President 1933 - 1935 “I am only a small part of the movement, one individual. When I am gone and forgotten, the Guild will still be here. Other willing hands will take up the torch and carry it forward. If you stand together, you cannot lose. Actors cannot be beaten except by actors. The Guild is for you, and you must be for the Guild. Stand together.”

– spoken at May 13, 1934 membership meeting. RALPH MORGAN. First Screen Actors Guild President 1933, 1938 - 1940 “I have great faith in the sense of justice inherent in my fellow player. I believe he wants to and will fight to correct any injustice so long as he feels confident that this fight will be waged cleanly and in keeping with the high calling of his profession... My good wishes to you all, and my prayers and hopes that our organization may grow to be a monument of justice and good faith to all in our glorious profession.”

– letter to Board March 27, 1937. NOEL MADISON - Founding Member #5 “When we formed the Guild, several of us went through a bad time and many doors were closed to us – doors that previously had been wide open. If I had the last eleven years to live over again, I wouldn’t deviate one millimeter from the path I took.”

- Screen Actor magazine May 1944 p. 10. BRADLEY PAGE – Founding member # 16 “When Equity was organized, the talking picture was only dreamed of - so we could not be blamed for not looking ahead to its potentialities and doing something about it; which resulted in that organization’s failure in California some years ago and our work of organizing the Actor’s Guild at the present time. Radio and its ally – television are an actuality however, now. And an important part of the entertainment world. We should not overlook the possibility of radio and television absorbing the picture industry a few years from now, as the talking picture did the legitimate theatre. This may seem like a ‘bell the cat’ idea right now - and a large programme for us at this early stage of the game, but circumstances, and perhaps good fortune, have placed us in a spot where we can benefit by mistakes made by other organizations and I beg of you all to consider - and remember that things happen awfully fast these days.” - letter to Board, July 20, 1933. GENE AUTRY “I'm a strong believer in the Screen Actors Guild. I've been a union man during my whole career.”

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LEW AYRES “We were finally treated like human beings when the Guild got its contract. There was a big difference in our working conditions.” BARBARA BARONDESS “In those golden years of Hollywood, women were treated like disposable Kleenex. My experience started at MGM in 1933. I made two dozen pictures in five years and my hair color changed in each one. We had nothing to say about our appearance. I had to lose weight, although I was a size 8. The strain of the working conditions was almost beyond endurance. I don't know how we survived making Eight Girls in a Boat (1934) for Paramount. We had to jump into a cold lake 20 times for a take. SAG was born while I was making Change of Heart (1934) with Ginger Rogers, Shirley Temple, and Kenneth Thomson. Thomson became SAG's first executive, and we all joined. Now actors have choices, which is better than being a ball in a roulette wheel, like we were.” MARY BRIAN “I can remember hearing stories of Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi recruiting fellow actors on the sets of their Universal horror movies. You can imagine the persuasive spectacle of Frankenstein's monster and Dracula in full make-up, bringing you an application and urging, "Join the Guild now!" FRANK "JUNIOR" COGHLAN “I worked in a movie at Paramount, and we kids worked from 8:00 a.m. to half past midnight. That would be impossible now. When SAG came in, they enforced the rules to make it a financial penalty if the studios didn't give us meal breaks and hours off between calls. In 1937 I was 21 and knew that a new union was being formed for actors, so I lined up at the old Hollywood Legion Stadium during that crucial strike meeting, paid my $15 initiation fee and walked away a member of SAG.” NANETTE FABRAY “One of my first memories is when we were out some place in the Valley outside of Los Angeles for a shoot and it was hot and I had to wear a coat and there were no bathroom facilities. I think kids forget, wipe those memories out, but I sure can remember that stress. But things changed after the union was formed. Now, it's like SAG's been a part of my life forever.” JAMES STEWART “The year 1945 was a landmark time for the Guild and its members. It was then that some of us were able to take more control of our careers, thanks to the de Havilland decision, which limited studio actors' contracts at seven years, including suspension and war-time duty. Eventually, motion picture actors were able to participate in the the profits of their movies. The Screen Actors Guild has benefited the actors in our industry in so many ways.”

1930: two Guild founders-to-be on set. Future Screen Actors Guild president Robert Montgomery and actress Florence Eldridge are directed in MGM’s The Divorcee. Eldridge’s husband was Fredric March, who became the Guild’s first 2nd vice president in October 1933.

1931: on the left of this set still from Universal’s Graft is Richard W. Tucker (not to be confused with the famous opera singer Richard Tucker), who in 1933 would draw Screen Actors Guild membership card #1 and serve on the first board of directors. The actress is Dorothy Revier. Guild trivia: Tucker’s character is shot and killed in this film by Guild founding member #9 – Boris Karloff of Frankenstein fame.

Maureen O’Sullivan being fingerprinted in The Silver Lining (1932) In 1994, four years before her death, Maureen O’Sullivan recollected her experience of working on this independent feature before the protections of Screen Actors Guild: “In May of 1932, I worked for an independent company, and the film was called The Silver Lining and it was absolutely hell to make. It was directed by Alan Crosland, who was a very good director, average director. But we worked, let me see – I would have an 8 o’clock call which would mean you’d have to be there 6:30 or so. And we would work – until you dropped. Maybe ‘til 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning. And then we’d have an early call again. And it was so awful. Of course, I was very young then. But I couldn’t stand it, and I started to cry. The producer had been at Fox, and I think I had known him sort of vaguely. I said ‘I can’t do it. I really can’t. I’m too tired to sleep and I have maybe two, three hours sleep, and I have to come back and get to work again.’ And he said ‘If you don’t pull yourself together’ he said ‘I will see to it that you never work again.’ So, under threat of that, I worked. And, as I say, ‘til one or two in the morning. They’d have an early next day. And we’d keep that up, when you’re young, for two or three days. And then I was finally so tired that they put a bed on the set. And, well, of course I couldn’t sleep with all that was going on. It was terrible without sleep.”

Maureen O’Sullivan joined Screen Actors Guild in January 1935, recruited on the set of Cardinal Richelieu by cast members Murray Kinnell, Edward Arnold and Halliwell Hobbes.

George Arliss, the film’s star, had been a Guild member since 1933.

1933 – El Capitan Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. Site of the Guild’s 1st public meeting, which was held on October 8, 1933, where many new members joined.

1933: Guild founders on set. Gloria Stuart and Noel Madison study the script of Universal’s I Like it That Way. Gloria joined the Guild as member #873 just before this production began filming, while Noel was one of the Guild’s first founders, as member #5. Nearly 65 years later, in 1998, Gloria won a Screen Actors Guild Award for “Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role” for Titanic.

1934: Screen Actors Guild board member Frank Morgan studies his script of The Firebrand (later released as The Affairs of Cellini), starring the Guild’s 2nd vice president Fredric March. He rests on a slant board, so as not to crease his costume. Frank was the youngest brother of first Guild president Ralph Morgan, and would achieve a lasting place in film history as The Wizard of Oz.

1935: Boris Karloff recruited members for the Guild even in full makeup for The Bride of Frankenstein. But of his fellow cast members in this photo, Colin Clive (Dr. Frankenstein), Elsa Lanchester (the Bride) and Ernest Thesiger (Dr. Praetorius), only Clive was convinced to join at that time.

1930: two Guild founders-to-be on set. Future Screen Actors Guild president Robert Montgomery and actress Florence Eldridge are directed in MGM’s The Divorcee. Eldridge’s husband was Fredric March, who became the Guild’s first 2nd vice president in October 1933.