National Board Member Report

There is an old adage that bad news comes in threes. We had our trifecta in less than two months this spring.

Ken Howard, Patty Duke and Bill Schallert all left this earth with solid union and humanitarian legacies. 

On March 23, it came as a shock to most of the National Board and the membership when we lost SAG-AFTRA President Ken Howard. Ken ran for president of the Screen Actors Guild against strong opposition twice, battling for merger, a merger he championed and later oversaw as the new union’s first president and, eventually, as SAG-AFTRA’s first elected president. It was no easy feat. This was the third attempt at merger in my tenure representing Nevada on the National Board. 

It was a sacrifice for both unions to build for the future, and as a working actor Ken knew merger was needed if the current membership and future generations were to prosper as performers. I knew him personally and professionally. We worked closely. His loss hit me hard. He is missed. And as a 6-foot-4 performer myself, to know a man who towered above me in more ways than one (Ken was 6-feet-6-inches) and shared my passions for musical theater, dogs and the rights and future of all talent, he leaves a hole in the universe of acting and in those passionate about their fellow performers. We miss you, Ken.

On March 29, we lost former SAG President Patty Duke. She was a dedicated unionist and a hard-working, Oscar-winning actor, and a strong advocate for mental health, having herself lived with bipolar disorder. I was proud to be a member of our union under her leadership. I only met her a few times, but know from those who worked with her that she stood up for television performers’ rights to earn a living. She fought hard against the spread of so-called “right-to-work” and the erosion of unionism in America. Anna Patty Duke Pearce was president from 1985 to 1988.

William Schallert left us May 9. Most memorable in his role as the father of a fellow future Screen Actors Guild president on The Patty Duke Show, he served as the Guild’s president from 1979 to 1981 and was active on the board during much of my tenure on the union board in the '90s and early 2000s. Mild-mannered but with strong views, he fought for working actors and for the future for all actors. When he passed at age 93, he was fully aware of all the changes that had occurred in our professions over his lifetime and the rapid changes ahead of us. 

The passing of three presidents over such a short period of time has me looking back at SAG, AFTRA and SAG-AFTRA and all they do for the membership. Our union leaders have often sacrificed their careers for the betterment of members and to create a strong, now fully merged union.

We need to evangelize for unions, all unions. We owe it to them, to those who gave up careers, lost revenue, risked being fired in all professions just to stand up for basic health, safety, living wages and realistic hours.

We know Nevada. We know Las Vegas. There’s great potential here. Let’s discourage our union brothers and sisters from working “off the card” on non-union projects in violation of Rule One of the membership rules. If non-union producers can get top professional talent to work for less, there is no incentive for them to become union. Let’s also convince our non-union “SAG-AFTRA-eligible” brothers and sisters to join our great union, so that together, united, we can earn more work, higher wages and all the benefits of being union.

We owe it to the three presidents we lost and to all of those who fought so hard and gave up so much for us to have what we take for granted today.

We owe it to ourselves to continue the trend set under SAG-AFTRA of stronger contracts built for the future, organizing of areas that have become increasingly non-union or even anti-union, and building out membership of qualified professional performers.

Support the conservatory, attend union meetings and talk-up SAG-AFTRA every chance you get.

Holding my union card high in solidarity,

Art Lynch
National Board Member 

This item was originally featured in the June 2016 local newsletter.