The Deep Roots of Theatrical Unionism—The Working Class Cheered When Actors Organized and Struck

Voted best looking picket line of 1919--Actors' Equity on strike.  The militancy of women actors was a major factor in the success of the strike.

Note—The current epic SAG-AFTRA and Writer’s Guild strikes against motion picture, television, and streaming service producers is in its second month with no end in sight.  This post recalls the roots of the theatrical labor movement in the U.S.

The current SAG-AFTRA strike is built on roots tracing back to the formation of Actors' Equity in the early 20th Century.

Two long time interests of this blog—labor history and the performing arts in America—intersect today.  On August 7, 1919 the Actors’ Equity Association launched a bitter 30 day nationwide strike for recognition and improved working conditions.

The stage had always been a challenging career choice.   Although a handful of stars working in major theaters could make a good living, even become rich, most performers toiled for miserable wages with no pay for rehearsals which could last for weeks before a major show was launched and continue during the duration of a show’s run.  Actors often had to pay for their own costumes and make-up.  Those in traveling shows usually had to pay their own train fare and traveling expenses.

And, of course, there was the basic problem of the ephemeral nature of the jobs—they were hard to come by and fiercely competed for in auditions and if hired an actor worked at the whim of producers and directors.  Labor unionists considered performers almost impossible to organize because of this.

But in the first decades of the 20th Century an already tenuous situation was becoming worse as major producers and theater owners followed the example of production industries and organized themselves into a virtual trust, the Theatrical Syndicate which tended to fix wages at an even lower level for journeyman performers and who could end an actor’s career at the snap of their fingers with a blackball.

In 1910 the National Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, a strong union of stagehands was formed and was soon able to wring concessions from producers.

Aging matinee idol Edwin Booth, seen here in 1889, lent his name, prestige, and home to the founding of Actors' Equity.

Inspired by this development The Players, a handful of leading actors in New York City began secretly meeting at Edwin Booth’s mansion to discuss organization.  Yes, that Edwin Booth, America’s most revered tragedian and brother of Lincoln’s assassin John Wilks Booth.

That led to a meeting held at the Pabst Grand Circle Hotel on May 26, 1913 where Actors’ Equity was founded by 112 professional theater actors.  They drafted the association’s constitution and elected Francis Wilson, then a major star and close friend of Booth, as President. 

Despite the prestige of its founders, Equity grew slowly and had difficulty in improving conditions.  At first a professional organization which included actor/producers like Booth, it could make little headway against the power of the Theater Syndicate.

Following the success of the stage hands, Equity founder Frank Gillmore led a movement to transform the organization into a real labor union.  Elected Executive Secretary in 1919, he led Equity into membership in the American Federation of Labor (AFL) on July 18, 1919.

Actors' Equity strike leaders John Cope, John Stewart, Frank Gillmore, and Francis Wilson lead a New York City march.

Moving quickly, he secured a pledge from the powerful stagehands union to honor its picket lines and launched the nationwide strike weeks later.  The strike lasted 30 days, spread to eight cities, closed 37 plays, and prevented the opening of 16 others.  Producers and theater owners lost millions of dollars.

During the course of the strike Chorus Equity under the leadership of comedienne and future movie star Marie Dressler was formed and joined the action after the first 5 days.  That prevented producers from trying to put all girl reviews on their stages to keep the theaters open and fill the seats.

Comedy star Marie Dressler, center, formed Chorus Equity which joined the actors on strike preventing producers from mounting all-girl reviews to keep their theaters open.  Broadway star Ethel Barrymore, far right joined their picket line.

Over the course of the strike Equity grew from 3,000 members to more than 14,000, almost all of the working actors in major cities.

The Syndicate, its power permanently broken, had no choice but to recognize the union and sign a five year agreement to improve conditions of employment.  In a tough year for the union movement in general, it was considered a major victory.

The actors knew a thing or two about publicity and the press.  Their well oiled Press Office kept reporters fed with the latest strike news and human interest stories. At right is Ned Sparks who became a celebrated MGM contract player with his cigar chomping, sardonic, and deadpan persona in scores of pictures.

Equity went on to a long and progressive history.  It was a leader in the Civil Rights movement and in demanding non-discrimination.  Unlike its cousin the Screen Actors’ Guild under the leadership of Ronald Regan, Equity refused to co-operate with the McCarthy Era blacklist of suspected Reds.  It led to lobbying for public funding for the arts which eventually resulted in the creation of the National Endowment of the Arts. It also led the fight against AIDS, which heavily impacted its membership.

The union’s history has been punctuated by strikes, especially a bitter walk out in 1961 that dimmed Broadway lights for 13 days but won the creation of the Equity-League Pension & Health Trust Funds.

In 1952 Chorus Equity merged with the Actors.  Directors and choreographers split from the union and set up their own organization in 1959.

In today’s fractured theater scene with many local and regional theaters, Of Broadway, Off-off Broadway, and non-profit companies, Equity only retains tight control over Broadway productions, touring companies, and a handful of major venues in other cities.  Equity performers are allowed to appear on a limited basis in some non-equity productions, especially top level dinner and regional theater.  Actors working in the lively independent/alternative theater scene, however, are generally poorly paid and sometimes work for nothing. 

The current Actors' Equity logo.

Actors, Equity members or not, were devastated by the Coronavirus pandemic that shut down almost all theatrical productions and has permanently closed close many local and regional theater companies and venues.  Equity responded by sponsoring or collaborating with virtual on-line programing to raise money for out of work actors and give them a creative outlet.