Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1531556
65 SAG-AFTRA SPECIAL ISSUE 2025 / sagaf tra.org 3 1 S T A N N UA L S C R E E N AC T O R S G U I L D AWA R D S ® A H I S T O R Y O F S Y M B O L I S M Long regarded as an icon of success, the award statue was once used to signify distress. In the March-April 1968 issue of Screen Actor, the tragedy mask — lit in a gloomy violet hue — filled the minimalist, text-free cover. Woodard's reasoning for the eerie choice was to make commentary "on the runaway film production situation." Later that year, the November- December Screen Actor featured a much more celebratory cover photo. Brightly lit, the award is depicted surrounded by verdant foliage and heralded the upcoming presentation of the yet-unnamed honoree on Nov. 17. Perusal of the SAG-AFTRA historical T WO FAC E S , O N E H O N O R Beginning in 1965, the award appears in its current form: the masks representing comedy and tragedy atop an onyx base. The statue is hefty, weighing over 14 pounds. When this version was first presented during a Hollywood Palladium ceremony to Bob Hope, Hope remarked that he "should get another award for lifting it." Designed by Richard Hayes Woodard of Franzen-Woodard Associates — a man who served briefly as art director for the Screen Actors Guild's Screen Actor magazine, now called SAG-AFTRA magazine — the Grecian masks statue has been bestowed on the most revered performers for six decades. Above, for the March-April 1968 issue of Screen Actor, the "tragedy" side of the Screen Actors Guild Annual Award graced the cover, symbolizing dismay over the problem of "runaway" film production. Charlton Heston and Bob Hope, 1965 65 SAG-AFTRA SPECIAL ISSUE 2025 / sagaf tra.org GENE LESTER