The fear among actors has been that if talent agents become affiliated with porducers of TV shows, then the agents will be biased in the project toward which they steer their clients.
Posted on 03/09/2002 4:21:28 AM PST by Naked Lunch
Actors Union Reelects Melissa Gilbert President Saturday March 9 6:20 AM ET
Former child star Melissa Gilbert won a resounding second victory early on Saturday as presidentof the Screen Actors Guild (news - web sites), repeating her defeat of veteran actress Valerie Harper in a rerun of last fall's nullified elections.
The outcome, reaffirming support for Gilbert's moderate posture over the comparatively militant stance of her opponent, climaxed weeks of acrimony and argument in one of the most divisive campaigns in the 69-year history of the famously fractious actors union.
Gilbert, 37, best known as pioneer girl Laura Ingalls on the 1970s TV series "Little House on the Prairie," garnered 21,351 votes out of nearly 38,000 ballots cast, while Harper, 61, the former star of "Rhoda," received 12,613 votes.
The remainder of the votes went to two lesser-known candidates.
"Our membership has once again spoken. I'm honored to have been trusted by the SAG membership," Gilbert said in a prepared statement announcing the results. "With the rerun of the election now behind us, I welcome focusing on the crucial issues at hand."
In a brief concession statement, Harper thanked her supporters and added, "In this election, rerun in a fair and uniform manner, the real winner is the democratic process."
Two Harper allies also won repeat victories to national office -- "MASH" film star Elliot Gould as recording secretary and Kent McCord of the 1960s cop show "Adam 12" as treasurer.
Turnout was high by SAG standards, with 41.4 percent of more than 91,000 ballots returned, the highest level on record for a SAG presidential race.
By comparison, just under 28,000 ballots were cast in the election last November, with Gilbert edging out then-presumed front-runner Harper by fewer than 1,600 votes.
But Harper and her supporters contested that outcome, saying the race was tainted by balloting irregularities, and a union committee subsequently ordered a new election for president, secretary and treasurer.
That decision plunged the union into one of the most bitter spasms of infighting ever seen in Hollywood's labor movement, replete with accusations of corruption and even a probe by the U.S. Labor Department (news - web sites).
Allies of Gilbert charged that Harper was seeking to hijack the election by challenging the results on the basis of minor infractions that would not have altered the outcome. Harper insisted she was motivated strictly by the desire to ensure that a fair, clean political process prevailed.
At stake was the balance of power between two sharply divided wings of the union. Gilbert's camp espouses a more moderate stance toward studios, advertisers and talent agents, while Harper and her allies favor the tougher line advocated by former president William Daniels at the bargaining table.
The new vote also was seen as a bellwether for the fate of a landmark deal recently negotiated by Gilbert's administration with talent agents that still must be ratified by the rank-and-file.
Harper has criticized provisions in the tentative accord that would permit talent agencies to buy stock in, and receive investments from, advertising firms. She argued such a change would diminish long-standing conflict-of-interest safeguards aimed at preventing talent agents from having an ownership interest in the companies for which their clients work.
It seems that whenever the left loses, they demand a recount or a new election.
I am so glad Melissa won!
I guess the NRA couldn't win this election for Heston.
The fear among actors has been that if talent agents become affiliated with porducers of TV shows, then the agents will be biased in the project toward which they steer their clients.
That ain't no prairie and they ain't all that little.
*fails*
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