Ken Howard, a moderate, elected Screen Actors President

That's the second big win for Ken Howard this week.

Members of the Screen Actors Guild have elected the veteran character actor, who just won won an Emmy on Sunday for his role in HBO's "Grey Gardens," as the union's new president, capping a bitter election campaign that sharply divided Hollywood's largest and most fractious union.

Howard defeated actress Anne-Marie Johnson, SAG's first vice president who was his leading challenger and backed by the faction that swept outgoing president Alan Rosenberg into office four years ago. Supporters of Howard further consolidated power by winning a majority of the 22 seats on the 69-member national board that were up for grabs.

The result further tilts the balance of power inside the actors union toward a group of moderates endorsed by Tom Hanks and George Clooney, who led a revolt against the union's leadership, forcing the ouster earlier this year of its executive director.

The group installed a new negotiating team and appointed former general counsel David White as the union's interim executive director, but the actions sparked a lawsuit by Johnson and Rosenberg.

Howard, whose credits include the TV series "Crossing Jordan," campaigned on a platform that included merging with the smaller actors union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

AFTRA suspended its longtime bargaining partnership with SAG last year after a dispute over turf, freeing the union to negotiate directly with the studios for the main prime-time TV contract. The smaller actors union, which has long played second fiddle to SAG, has suddenly emerged as the go-to union for new prime-time TV shows, weakening SAG's grip in area it has traditionally dominated.

Howard argued that having two actors' unions allows studios to pit one against the other, severely undercutting SAG's leverage at the bargaining table.

Johnson, star of  the TV series "In the Heat of the Night" and "That's So Raven," countered that merging the two unions was a bad idea because their memberships are too dissimilar. Although both unions represent actors and share about  44,000 members in common,  AFTRA's members also include broadcast announcers, recording artists and radio show hosts. 

Johnson's close association with Rosenberg, however, may have hurt her campaign. Rosenberg waged an unsuccessful campaign to defeat a contract negotiated by AFTRA, fiercely opposed a SAG contract that was approved overwhelmingly by members, and lost a battle to keep Allen in his job.

The result follows a similar outcome in a closely contest election at the Writers Guild of America, West, where members also tapped "Southland" executive producer John Wells, a moderate, over "MASH" writer Elias Davis, who had been strongly supported by the former president Patric M. Verrone, who led the union during a 100-day strike.

-- Richard Verrier

Photo: Ken Howard (courtesy of Howard); Johnson (AP/Reed Saxon)

Comments

[Mark in the Midlands]

I couldn't be happier for SAG and Mr. Howard!

The days I spent in LA board meetings with Anne-Marie Johnson and the rest of her awful MembershipFirst cronies comprise some of the most depressing, vile, insane experiences I've ever had - and I've worked with some loonies! Never have I seen a superminority demand so much attention, time, attention, and did I mention attention?

Good riddance to bad rubbish and terrible, terrible representation by Anne-Marie. I'll be thrilled when the rest of the MFers are out on the butts as well.

[jtbwriter]

Congratulations to Ken Howard, who will be more reasonable and less likely to give the public the shaft in any labor actions in the future. Unlike Rosenberg, who forgot that putting people out of work and thumbing his nose at the audience doesn't make friends or influence people, Howard is more concerned in getting the most equitable deal possible-not in bankrupting the studios.

[Actor Being Paid LESS Now]

Great reporting, but you forgot to mention how the election was rigged, just like the "strike" vote election was. Can we get an investigative reporter to delved into that realm please? I find it VERY hard to believe this crock-o-crapola! The producers have and will stop at nothing to ensure the end of decent-paying residuals ... and merging SAG and AFTRA will do just that. The producers knew full well AFTRA would snag all the new shows (pilots), can't blame SAG for now wanting to negotiate a better deal, it was and always has been the producers who wouldn't play ball. Good riddance to the lovely character actors who won't survive enough on AFTRA wages to stick around the business. Because I can guarantee when the AFTRA-SAG merger goes thru the miserable AFTRA wages/residual structure will be the template folks. Producers go to hell!

[DA in LA]

Calling Ken Howard a moderate is rather hilarious. He's a stooge for the producers, conservative as they come.

[Bill]

Hollywood is so full of unions now, each demanding its own turf, that it's amazing to me that they get anything done. Everything's too complicated and too expensive.

[Eric]

Hey, he'll be tough if he has to. Remember how he held his ground when that mean old guy tried to kick Coolidge and Thorpe out of the all-white country club?

[8movies5plays]

There’s only a few words to explain this election result.

1. Wow, to quote Shakespeare.
The first thing we do is kill all the acting jobs.

2. Seriously folks, one black president acting as president is enough.
Or how about this reasoning for the vote.

3. AFTRA, SAMTRA, we just want to work, no matter how little the residuals or lack of benefits.

4. To quote Batman, Holy Tallulah Bankhead, it's my last acting job; I’ll never be in the new Batman V.

5. Maybe he will revise the WHITE SHADOW, more acting jobs, nine on a team.

6. And finally Johnson isn’t she in that new Tyler Perry movie, why does she want to be union president.

SAG is now doomed for its failure to understand the history of union negotiations between the studio and the unemployed actor, writer, and director.

[Gorefan]

Has anyone seen his birth certificate?