News

SAG-AFTRA’s upcoming election is taking shape, with the union’s ruling party – headed by presidential candidate Fran Drescher – today unveiling its full slate of candidates.

Yvette Nicole Brown is running for president of the Los Angeles local, and Ezra Knight is running for president of the union’s New York local – each as part of the ruling parties’ Unite for Strength and Usan slate. Brown, a national board member, is nominated for an Emmy for A Black Lady Sketch Show, and Knight, who co-starred for many years on Law & Order, is the New York local’s vice president and a national board member.

“I believe nothing in our union works unless we are all working together,” Brown said. “As L.A. president I will advocate for each and every member and lead with kindness and respect. It’s been a tough time for us as work here in...

Unite for Strength, the ruling party of SAG-AFTRA, announced its slate of candidates today in the union’s upcoming elections.

Michelle Hurd, currently serving on the national board, will be running for president of the Los Angeles local; Clyde Kusatsu and Ellen Crawford will be running for vice president slots. Kusatsu is currently the national vice president from La, and Crawford is a national board member. As previously reported, Camryn Manheim will be running for national secretary-treasurer as president Gabrielle Carteris’ running mate.

Two candidates are challenging Carteris for president: Jane Austin, currently the guild’s national secretary-treasurer who’s running for president as an independent, and Matthew Modine, who is running at the top of the ticket for Membership First. His slate has yet to be announced.

In New York, Rebecca Damon, national executive vice president and New York president, is running for re-election as New York president.

Vigoda (left) with Richard Castellano and Marlon Brando in "The Godfather" (1972)

By Lee Pfeiffer

Abe Vigoda, whose hang-dog expression and low-key mannerisms help propel him to fame, has passed away at age 94. Vigoda toiled in films and TV without notable success until director Francis Ford Coppola cast him in the key role of Tessio, a mob lieutenant in the Corleone crime family in the 1972 classic "The Godfather".  Tessio was one of the most trusted "employees" of the Corleone family but following the death of its patriarch Vito Corleone, Tessio is discovered to be planning the assassination of the new godfather, Michael Corleone. Memorably he is led away to his execution with typical understated emotion. Vigoda's stock in the film industry rose immediately and he became a popular character actor, appearing in such films as "The Cheap Detective", "The Don is Dead", "Newman's Law", "Look Who's Talking" and "The Cannonball Run II...

In recognition of outstanding achievements in stage, television and film, and for his work in protecting performers rights, as a past President of SAG, as the first-elected President of SAG-AFTRA, and as a Trustee of the Actors Fund, and of the SAG Foundation, The Lambs bestowed Honorary Membership to Ken Howard. The event was hosted by The Lambs' Shepherd, Marc Baron, who is also a board member of the union.

In a Screen Actors Guild election that was widely considered a referendum on merger with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, proponents of that idea emerged with a clear mandate.When the results of SAG's 2010 national board of directors election were announced Sept. 23, MembershipFirst, the SAG faction that emerged from the group of actors who helped scuttle merger in 2003, lost the fight for all 13 Hollywood-based national seats up for grabs to its rival faction, the pro-merger Unite for Strength. MembershipFirst partisans had held all 13 of those seats. The loss hands the coalition of Hollywood, New York, and regional moderates who had held a slim majority of the national seats—and who have been vocal in support of merger—a commanding boardroom advantage.Even more striking is MembershipFirst's loss of its majority on the Hollywood board. Unite for Strength won an overwhelming 33 of 35 open seats. Ufs, formed in...

In a victory for the SAG moderate coalition (Unite for Strength / Usan / independents), the Ufs candidates for president, Ken Howard, and secretary, Amy Aquino, won the union's national offices.

However, the election was close: Howard's total was slightly less than the two hardline candidates added together (Anne-Marie Johnson and Seymour Cassel) and Aquino's was slightly more than that of incumbent Connie Stevens. So the union is still very divided, and Howard acknowledged that the results were not a landslide and that the union is very divided, while saying that he planned to reach out to Mf supporters.

On the national board, the moderates showed strength as well: They picked up 4 of 11 seats in Hollywood and held all of the NY and regional (Rbd) seats. I estimate that this brings the moderate's board majority to around 60%, vs. 40% for Mf, but that's a very rough calculation and I'm not sure at this point.

There are surely more conflicts to come, but the Screen Actors Guild membership on Thursday night settled a big one: Ken Howard has been elected the union's new national president.

Running mate Amy Aquino beat two-time incumbent Connie Stevens in the race for secretary-treasurer. Howard and Aquino will serve two-year terms beginning Friday.

For the moment, at least, the outcomes indicate that a winning 47.2% of the voting segment of SAG's roughly 120,000 members prefers the less strident approach of the self-styled moderate wing of the party represented by Unite for Strength.

Howard collected 12,895 votes, or 3,989 more than MembershipFirst candidate Anne-Marie Johnson, who received 32.6% of the 27,295 votes cast. Independents Seymour Cassel and Asmar Muhammad garnered 17.7% and 1.5%, respectively, in their bid for the presidency.

Ufs came together last year in opposition and in January led a boardroom coup at SAG, installed new negotiators and salvaged a deal with Hollywood producers nearly a...