Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1054784
sagaftra.org | Fall 2018 | SAG-AFTRA 29 ALISON BUCK/GETTY IMAGES/SAG-AFTRA Actors Guild in 1938 and was a board member from March 1945 to November 1947. Her on-camera career suffered during the period of the Hollywood blacklist, but she turned adversity to activism and has been working to better the world ever since. "I've never been more touched than by being honored by my fellow actors," Hunt told the audience that day. • Norman Lloyd, who joined Screen Actors Guild in 1939. He is believed to be the oldest working actor today at age 104, currently appearing in the series Fly. "I remember when I joined the Screen Actors Guild. It wasn't that old when I joined, but we've gotten ancient together. Without the Guild, we would be hamburger. That we had the Guild — and that it was always there for us — is something to treasure in our long careers," Lloyd said. • June Lockhart, who joined AFRA (which would later become AFTRA) in 1938 and Screen Actors Guild in 1940. Her honor was accepted by publicist Harlan Boll. He read a statement from Lockhart that included this message to her fellow members: "Support each other, protect each other and never miss a chance to vote." On Oct. 22, the SAG-AFTRA Committee of Locals presented the Howard Keel Award to actor and National Board member John Carter Brown and broadcaster Belva Davis. Brown has a long and varied career spanning over 25 years in volunteer service to AFTRA, SAG and SAG-AFTRA. Since 1997, he has been a part of every national commercial contract negotiating team. He also committed his time, talent and energy to pension and health issues that affect all members by becoming a trustee 14 years ago of what are now known as the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan and SAG-Producers Pension Plan. Representing the Chicago Local, Brown served on the AFTRA National Board for two terms, from 2001-2004, and the SAG National Board for four terms, from 2002- 2012. He has served on the SAG-AFTRA National Board since 2012. Brown said one of the reasons he serves is because the union and its benefits were there for him when he needed them. "My wife had a health issue, right after we bought our condo. The very next day, she was very well treated. A couple of days after, surgery. Did I get a bill? Not much of one. Because I had my SAG insurance. About 15 years after that, I became a trustee. You can't buy that type of loyalty. If the union wasn't here, I could have lost everything," he said. Davis was the first African-American woman hired as a television reporter at KPIX-TV 5 San Francisco in 1966. She began her union service on the San Francisco AFTRA Local Board, attended her first convention in St. Louis, was elected board president in 1978 and served as an AFTRA national vice president starting in 1984. She also served as a national leader of AFTRA from the 1980s through merger. Davis became an expert on diversity issues, leading union diversity meetings with both networks and government agencies and served as AFTRA's National EEO Committee chair for more than 12 years. She was instrumental in creating the union's American Scene Awards, which are bestowed on productions that represent a realistic portrayal of American diversity. A recipient of the SAG-AFTRA George Heller Memorial Award gold card, Davis was named Board member emeritus by the San Francisco-Northern California Local Board in 2015. Davis believes deeply in member involvement. "Members' most valuable commodity is their talent — that was born within them or created through hard work, and there is no group other than this union that will fight as hard for them as they are willing to fight for themselves," she said. The Howard Keel Award is the highest honor given by the SAG-AFTRA Committee of Locals. From left, Marsha Hunt, Richard Masur and Barbara Perry From left, John Carter Brown and Belva Davis