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https://theconversation.com/how-ronald-reagan-led-the-1960-actors-strike-and-then-became-an-anti-union-president-209800>
"Production on US film and television sets has ground to a halt as Hollywood
actors have joined writers in walking off sets. At issue are residuals (or
royalties), streaming services and the use of artificial intelligence.
The last time there was a “double strike” was 1960, when future United States
President Ronald Reagan was head of the powerful Screen Actors Guild (SAG).
Reagan made his film debut in 1937. He was a quintessential B-movie star of the
Hollywood Golden Age, acting in low-budget “second feature” movies.
Over his career he churned out over 50 films, appearing in Westerns, thrillers,
war films and romantic comedies, as well as famously co-starring with a monkey
called Bonzo.
In the 1930s and 1940s, Reagan was a self-proclaimed “New Deal Liberal” and a
proud supporter of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Reagan became a SAG member within a month of moving to Hollywood. In 1941, his
then wife Jane Wyman, a member of the union’s board of directors, suggested him
for a vacancy on the board.
Reagan was nominated for the SAG presidency by movie star Gene Kelly. He would
go on to serve two stints as union head, from 1947–1952 and 1959–1960.
The year he first became SAG president he was part of the Second Red Scare, an
anticommunist witch hunt that saw Americans fired, jailed and blacklisted over
accusations of communist affiliation."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
