SAG-AFTRA Mourns the Passing of Former AFTRA President Reed Farrell

Los Angeles – SAG-AFTRA mourns the passing of Reed Farrell, a broadcaster, actor and writer who served as AFTRA president from 1989–1993. 

“Reed was a committed unionist with a passion for union service and the betterment of his fellow members,” said SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris. “Our gratitude goes out to him for his many years of dedication to our union.” 

Farrell, who died July 6, was inspired to serve his union by the joint AFTRA and SAG commercials strike of 1979; he understood the inherent problems with the crossover in jurisdictions between the unions, allowing producers to shop contracts. At AFTRA’s 1989 convention, he encouraged the further exploration of merger. 

Farrell joined AFTRA in 1955 and Screen Actors Guild the following year. He made his mark as an actor, voiceover artist and narrator in television films, commercials and industrial films, and as a writer of hundreds of TV and radio spot commercials.

In January of 1958, while a disc jockey at KWK in St. Louis, he was filmed smashing rock ’n’ roll records, declaring “Rock ’n’ roll has got to go — and go it does at KWK.” The “record-breaking” campaign was not Farrell’s idea — he enjoyed rock — but was ordered to do it by the station’s president after staff agreed that rock had “dominated the music field long enough.” The film clip of Farrell destroying the records has been used in numerous documentaries. 

After completing his AFTRA presidency in 1993, he was presented with George Heller Memorial Gold Card No. 37 at the AFTRA National Convention in Chicago for his enduring dedication to his union.

About SAG-AFTRA

SAG-AFTRA represents approximately 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other entertainment and media professionals. SAG-AFTRA members are the faces and voices that entertain and inform America and the world. A proud affiliate of the AFL-CIO, SAG-AFTRA has national offices in Los Angeles and New York and local offices nationwide representing members working together to secure the strongest protections for entertainment and media artists into the 21st century and beyond. Visit SAG-AFTRA online at SAGAFTRA.org.