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actors’ equity associations, the labour unions of professional actors in England and the United States, organized for the improvement of wages, working conditions, and terms of employment in the dramatic arts. The earliest attempts to form a professional association for actors took place in the late 19th century, when salaries were low and backstage conditions, especially for touring companies, were often extremely bad. The first organizations in England, the Actors’ Association (founded 1891) and the Actors’ Union (1905), were short-lived and ineffective. The American Actors’ Equity Association, founded in December 1912, was more successful. By 1919 it was strong enough to call its first strike, winning better pay and conditions for its members. British Actors’ Equity Association was finally established in 1929, with a membership that included motion-picture, radio, and, later, television actors as well as those on the legitimate stage. The British organization currently regulates wages and conditions for actors all over the country and also serves as an adviser to the Ministry of Labour, controlling the issue of work permits to foreign actors.
American Actors’ Equity, which represents only stage performers, achieved success in many of its aims, including a campaign to help eliminate racial segregation in the theatres.
The association joined forces with the New York Public Library in 1943 to establish the Equity Library Theatre as a showcase for itsmembers. American Actors’ Equity has been severely criticized in recent years for not being aggressive enough in the pursuit of the interest of its members. According to figures compiled in 1971, the average unemployment rate among theatre actors was nearly 80 percent, and the average actor’s annual income, from all sources, was approximately $2,500.
The unique problem of Actors’ Equity is that, unlike other unions, it must temper its demands in the interests of its members with a consideration for the artistic freedom of producers and directors. Consequently, the organization has thus far rejected proposals for contract rules that would force employers to hire their actors from among a greater percentage of the membership, instead of giving most of the work to a few stars. Equity has also refused to limit its membership, on the grounds that to do so would violate the artistic freedom of aspiring actors.
