The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) is the labor union representing film actors in the United States. The guild guarantees members a minimum daily wage on union productions ("scale") and handles payment of residuals. Since 1995 the guild has also selected members for the Screen Actors Guild Award. A union (labor union in American English; trade union, sometimes trades union, in British English; either labour union or trade union in Canadian English) is a legal entity consisting of employees or workers having a common interest, such as all the assembly workers for one employer, or all the workers... For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as part of... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... In general, a residual is a positive or negative numeric difference between two numbers. ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

History

In 1925, the Masquers club was formed by actors fed up with the grueling work hours at the Hollywood studios, particularly for actors without contracts, who felt the brunt of cost-cutting measures during the Great Depression. Events January-May January 3 - Benito Mussolini announces he is taking dictatorial powers over Italy. ... This is a list of Hollywood movie studios. ... The Great Depression was a global economic slump that began in 1929 and bottomed in 1933. ...

This was one major concern which led to the creation of the Screen Actors Guild in 1933. Another was that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which at that time arbitrated between the producers and actors on contract disputes, had a membership policy which was by-invitation-only. 1933 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is a professional honorary organization, founded on May 11, 1927 in California to advance the arts and sciences of motion pictures. ...

A meeting in March 1933 among six actors started it all: Berton Churchill, Charles Miller, Grant Mitchell, Ralph Morgan, Alden Gay, and Kenneth Thomson. Three months later, three of those six and eighteen others became the guild's first officers and board of directors: Ralph Morgan (its first president), Alden Gay, Kenneth Thomson, Alan Mowbray (who personally funded the organization when it was first founded), Leon Ames, Tyler Brooke, Clay Clement, James Gleason, Lucile Webster Gleason, Boris Karloff (reportedly influenced by long hours suffered during the filming of Frankenstein), Claude King, Noel Madison, Reginald Mason, Bradley Page, Willard Robertson, Ivan Simpson, C. Aubrey Smith, Charles Starrett, Richard Tucker, Arthur Vinton, and Morgan Wallace. Berton Churchill (December 9, 1876 _ October 10, 1940) was a Canadian actor. ... Grant Mitchell (born July 19, 1951) is a Canadian politician and businessman. ... Leon Ames (January 20, 1902 - October 12, 1993), born Leon Waycoff, was an American film actor born in Portland, Indiana. ... James Gleason (May 23, 1882 – April 12, 1959) is an actor. ... Boris Karloff (November 23, 1887 _ February 2, 1969), born William Henry Pratt, was a famous actor in horror films. ... Frankenstein is a 1931 horror film based on the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. ... Claude King (born February 5, 1923 in Keithville, Louisiana near the city of Shreveport) is an American country music singer and songwriter. ... Richard Tucker (August 28, 1913 – January 8, 1975) was an American tenor. ...

Many high-profile actors refused to join SAG initially. This changed when the producers made an agreement amongst themselves to not to bid competitively for talent. A pivotal meeting at the home of Frank Morgan (Ralph's brother, who would go on to play the title role in The Wizard of Oz), is what gave SAG its critical mass, figuratively speaking. Prompted by Eddie Cantor's insistence at that meeting that any response to that producer's agreement help all actors, not just the already established ones, it took only three weeks for SAG membership to go from around 80 members to more than 4000. Cantor's participation was critical, particularly because of his friendship with the recently-elected Franklin Roosevelt. After several years and the passage of the National Labor Relations Act, the producers agreed to negotiate with SAG in 1937. Frank Morgan (June 1, 1890 - September 18, 1949) was an American actor. ... The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 musical fantasy film based on L. Frank Baums turn-of-the-century childrens story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in which a resourceful American girl is snatched up by a Kansas tornado and deposited in a fantastic land of witches, talking... Cyclists gather at Union Square, New York City on Julys Critical Mass Critical Mass is an event held typically on the last Friday of every month in cities around the world, where bicyclists and self-propelled people take to the streets en masse. ... Eddie Cantor (January 31, 1892 - October 10, 1964) was a comedian, singer, actor, songwriter, and one of the most popular entertainers in the United States of America in the early and middle 20th century. ... The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (or Wagner Act) protects the rights of workers in the private sector of the United States to organize unions, to engage in collective bargaining over wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment, and to take part in strikes and other forms of... 1937 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Actors known for their early support of SAG (besides the founders) include Edward Arnold, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Dudley Digges, Porter Hall, Paul Harvey, Jean Hersholt, Russell Hicks, Murray Kinnell, Gene Lockhart, Fredric March, Adolphe Menjou, Chester Morris, Jean Muir, George Murphy, Erin O'Brien-Moore, Irving Pichel, Dick Powell, Edward G. Robinson, Edwin Stanley, Gloria Stuart, Franchot Tone, Warren William, and Robert Young. Edward Arnold (actor) Eddy Arnold (country singer) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Humphrey Bogart (December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957) was an iconic American actor who retains legendary status decades after his death. ... Jimmy Cagney was part of the Legends of Hollywood USPS stamp series. ... Paul Harvey Aurandt (born September 4, 1918), better known as Paul Harvey, is an American radio broadcaster for the ABC Radio Networks. ... Jean Hersholt (July 12, 1886 - June 2, 1956) was an Danish actor. ... Gene Lockhart (1891-1957) was a Canadian character actor, singer and popular composer. ... Fredric March photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1939 Fredric March (Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel) (August 31, 1897 - April 14, 1975) was an Academy Award winning American actor. ... Adolphe Jean Menjou (February 18, 1890 _ October 29, 1963) was an American actor. ... John Chester Brooks Morris (February 16, 1901 - September 11, American actor. ... George Lloyd Murphy (July 4, 1902 - May 3, 1992) was an American dancer, actor and politician. ... Dick Powell, or Richard Ewing Powell (November 14, 1904 - January 2, 1963) was a singer, actor, producer, and director. ... Edward G. Robinson (December 12, 1893 - January 26, 1973) was a Romanian-American actor of stage and film. ... Gloria Stuart, born July 4, 1910 (some sources state 1909) is an American actress. ... Franchot Tone (February 27, 1905 – September 18, 1968) was an American actor. ... Robert Young (February 22, 1907 - July 21, 1998) was a popular American actor. ...

Beyond the major studios

SAG members may not work on non-union productions without special dispensation; many film schools have waiver agreements with the guild to allow SAG actors to work free of charge in student films. A Film school is an educational institution dedicated to teaching aspects of moviemaking, including, but not limited to, film production, theory, and writing for the screen. ...

SAGIndie was formed in 1997; its standard contracts are meant to encourage the use of SAG members in films produced outside of the major studios. Some provisions of those contracts are still controversial: 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Reef. ...

Any distribution beyond film festivals requires that the producer contact the Guild, obtain each professional performer's consent, and negotiate compensation for any further distribution. [1] (http://www.sagindie.org/contracts/efa.html)

SAG Awards

SAG Awards have been one of the major awards events in Hollywood since 1995. Nominations for the awards come from 4200 randomly selected members of the union, with the full membership (98,000 as of 2004) available to vote for the winners. The awards have been televised for the past several years on TNT. For other uses, see Hollywood (disambiguation) Greetings from Hollywood Hollywood is a district of the City of Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., that runs from about Vermont Avenue on the east to just beyond Laurel Canyon Boulevard above Sunset and Crescent Heights Boulevards on the west; the north to... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Turner Network Television, usually referred to as TNT, is a cable TV network created by media mogul Ted Turner in 1988. ...

2004 Screen Actors Guild Awards

Awards are organized into the following categories:

Film Awards

• Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
• Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
• Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
• Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
• Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Television Awards

• Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
• Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
• Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
• Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
• Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
• Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
• Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
• Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

Presidents of the Screen Actors Guild

Melissa Gilbert became SAG President in 2001. Past Presidents include Ed Asner, Ronald Reagan, George Chandler, Karl Malden, and Charlton Heston. Melissa Ellen Gilbert (born May 8, 1964) is an American actress. ... Edward Asner (born November 15, 1929 in Kansas City, Kansas) is an American actor best known for his Emmy-winning role as Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and later continued in a spinoff series, Lou Grant. ... Order: 40th President Vice President: George H.W. Bush Term of office: January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989 Preceded by: Jimmy Carter Succeeded by: George H.W. Bush Date of birth: February 6, 1911 Place of birth: Tampico, Illinois Date of death: June 5, 2004 Place of death: Los Angeles... Karl Malden (born as Mladen Sekulovich in Chicago March 22, 1912) is an American actor, known for his bulbous nose and expansive manner. ... Charlton Heston (born October 4, 1924), born John Charles Carter, is an American film actor noted for heroic roles. ...

See also

• American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
• British Actors' Equity Association

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) is an actors union that aims to represent actors in radio and television, much like the Screen Actors Guild does for movies. ... The British Actors Equity Association (now called Equity) is the British actors trade union. ...

External links and sources

• Screen Actors Guild website (http://www.sag.org/)
• SAGIndie (http://www.sagindie.org/), part of SAG
• Screen Actors Guild Awards website (http://www.sagawards.org/)
• Hollywood Is a Union Town (http://newdeal.feri.org/nation/na38146p381.htm), published in The Nation, April 2, 1938