Screen Actors Celebrates 75th Anniversary

by James Parks, Jul 12, 2008

James Cagney, who served as SAG president from 1942-1944, forced producers to change nearly intolerable working conditions.

Their names are a who’s who of Hollywood history: Eddie Cantor, Robert Montgomery, James Cagney, Walter Pidgeon, Kathleen Nolan, Ronald Reagan, Edward Asner, Patty Duke, Charlton Heston, Melissa Gilbert. Besides being stars on the big screen, they all have been union presidents, leading the Screen Actors (SAG).

This year, SAG is celebrating its 75th anniversary in Hollywood style. The celebration kicked off in October 2007, when the union became the first labor organization to receive a star of excellence on the famed Hollywood Boulevard.

A special 75th anniversary edition of the union’s Screen Actor magazine highlights some of the union’s accomplishments over the past seven decades. For example, the legendary actor James Cagney, who led SAG from 1942–1944, was a fearless advocate for actors and was responsible for using the walkout as a tool for actors to protest and for forcing major changes in working conditions. Cagney was such a staunch supporter of workers’ rights that the boardroom at SAG headquarters is named for him.

The magazine also points out that SAG contracts since 1963 have included a strong diversity clause, although the union admits it has not yet reached a goal of complete diversity in films. Today, the union is fighting to maintain the protections for actors and other employees as the film industry enters the cyber age.  

From coast to coast, SAG members celebrated the contributions the union has made over the past 75 years, with a series of events late last month. In the Washington, D.C., area, SAG members walked down a red carpet into a black tie Hollywood costume gala at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Md. The film community in Nevada celebrated with a 1930s-themed event featuring film retrospectives. In Chicago, members held a gala celebration benefit to benefit the SAG Foundation, the union’s charitable arm.

In the Screen Actor anniversary edition, SAG President Alan Rosenberg points out the union has adapted to an ever-changing script of entertainment venues. Since SAG was founded in 1933, the world of acting and entertainment has evolved from silent films to talkies, from black and white to color, film to digital. But Rosenberg says the union has constantly worked to ensure that members are protected:

Anything worth doing is worth doing well, and anything worth having is worth fighting for. That’s what Screen Actors Guild is about. We are creative professionals who bring the highest level of talent to the set. In return, we expect reasonable compensation and protections that keep up with the changing times.

While the actors in Hollywood and New York receive most of the public attention, SAG’s members live and work across the country and in every facet of the business, including dancers, voice actors, stunt performers, singers, motion capture artists (who turn live actions into computer images) and puppeteers. The union also has extensive programs to encourage diversity in hiring and to protect the rights of children actors.   

Actress Valerie Harper says SAG’s mission goes beyond representing members:

I think the 75th anniversary is an opportunity for union members to come together and lock hands, lock hearts and understand what we’re doing is not just for our workers, but for the working people of America and the world.

Actress Debra Nelson summed up the value of SAG this way:

From the first shouted “Action!” to “That’s a wrap,” I am able to focus on the work of bringing my character to life because the rest—from a fair wage to pension and health, to safety, to residuals—is covered and protected.

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