Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1186820
110 SAG-AFTRA | Fall 2019 | sagaftra.org In Memoriam VALERIE HARPER, a former SAG-AFTRA Board member best known for playing Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spinoff, Rhoda, passed away on Aug. 30 at age 80. Harper was active on the Screen Actors Guild National Board, serving from 2000 until SAG and AFTRA merged in 2012. After merger, she served on the interim SAG-AFTRA Los Angeles Local Board. She also served on the SAG Foundation Board. Born Aug. 22, 1939 in Suffern, New York, she started her career onstage as a dancer and later as an actor on Broadway. Although her fame stemmed from her television roles, she continued to do theater work throughout her career. In 1970, she won the part of Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and played the character for the show's first four years, continuing on the spinoff Rhoda, which aired until 1978. Harper won four Emmys and a Golden Globe for her work on the two series. Harper was an activist who championed women's rights and helped feed Los Angeles' underprivileged through a charity she co-founded. In addition, she was active in lobbying on behalf of the union and its membership, a role she took on with little fanfare. COKIE ROBERTS, a journalist, political commentator and best-selling author, died on Sept. 17 at the age of 75. Born Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs in New Orleans on Dec. 27, 1943, she was nicknamed "Cokie" by her older brother. Roberts began her career in radio as a foreign correspondent for CBS in the 1970s and later covered politics for National Public Radio in 1978. While at NPR, Roberts, along with colleagues Linda Wertheimer, Nina Totenberg and Susan Stamberg, became known as the NPR Founding Mothers when they organized the network with AFTRA, resulting in a union contract for on-air hosts and correspondents that is still in effect today with SAG-AFTRA covering more than 500 employees. She would remain an NPR journalist for 10 years before moving to ABC News in 1988 where she worked for three decades. She was highly regarded for her advocacy on behalf of women journalists, and served as a role model for the many women who followed her into the profession. Throughout her career, Roberts won multiple awards including three Emmy Awards, the Edward R. Murrow Award and the Walter Cronkite Award and, in 2000, she was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame. ELECTIONS Continues from page 14 represent the needs of all our members." SAG-AFTRA's top leadership team was rounded out at its biennial convention in October. Delegates nominated and elected the union's eight national vice presidents, including the executive vice president, for two- year terms. Those elected were Clyde Kusatsu, vice president, Los Angeles; Liz Zazzi, vice president, New York; Michele Proude, vice president, mid-sized locals; Suzanne Burkhead, vice president, small locals; William Charlton, vice president, actors/ performers; Bob Butler, vice president, broadcasters; Dan Navarro, vice president, recording artists/singers. To view all election results, visit sagaftra.org/2019elections.