Actors' Equity Association

From Freepedia

The Actors' Equity Association, commonly referred to as Actors' Equity, is an American labor union formed in New York City in 1913 by 112 actors working in the professional theatre. Its first president was Francis Wilson and membership grew rapidly.

Image:DresslerBarrymore1919.jpg Wilson led them through the famous strike of 1919 that ended the iron-fisted dominance over actors and theatre workers by the Theatrical Syndicate and its theatre owners and producers like Abe Erlanger and his partner, Mark Klaw. Before the 1919 strike, Actors' Equity had 2,777 members. After the strike, it had increased to 14,000. Today, the Actors' Equity Association represents more than 45,000 actors and stage managers.

Founded during the 1919 strike with Marie Dressler as its first president, the Chorus Equity Association merged with Actors' Equity in 1955.

During McCarthyism of the late 1940s and 1950s when actors and other members of the film industry were being blacklisted, the Actors' Equity Association refused to bend to the will of the industry bosses and never banned any of its members. At a 1997 ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Blacklist, Richard Masur, the then President of the Screen Actors Guild, said: "Only our sister union, "Actors' Equity Association", had the courage to stand behind its members and help them to continue their creative lives, in the theatre..."

The association's national headquarters are at 165 West 46th Street in New York City with regional offices in Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California plus a satellite office in San Francisco and in Orlando, Florida.

Presidents of Actors' Equity Association: