Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1541667
114 SAG-AFTRA | Fall/Winter 2025 | sagaftra.org It Kept the Wizard Covered B orn June 1, 1890, in New York City as the youngest of 11 children, Frank Morgan followed his older brother, future first Screen Actors Guild President Ralph Morgan, into the acting profession. First performing on the stage, then in silent films and talking pictures, he ultimately played the role for which he is best-remembered: the title character in MGM's 1939 feature The Wizard of Oz. Both Ralph and Frank were longtime members of Actors' Equity and both participated in Equity's 1919 strike. Ralph went on to be elected to the Equity Council in 1920 and briefly served as its acting president in 1925. Frank Morgan held early SAG union meetings at his house on DeMille Drive, northeast of Hollywood. It was a chaotic time for both Los Angeles and the fledgling Guild. During a pivotal Oct. 1, 1933, SAG gathering, a large aftershock from the Long Beach earthquake BELOW: Frank Morgan's double- breasted dinner jacket was among the belongings of Morgan's son George, donated after George's death in 2003. ABOVE: Frank Morgan was Screen Actors Guild member No. 57 and served on the board as well as on multiple committees. Inside Pocket Label BELOW: Frank Morgan with the SAG charter in 1940 in the SAG boardroom on the 8th floor of SAG's third headquarters at 7046 Hollywood Boulevard. ALL PHOTOS SAG-AFTRA ARCHIVES & GETTY IMAGES rattled the home. Two days later, the then-deadliest fire in Los Angeles history swept through nearby Griffith Park. The following evening, again at Morgan's house and with the smell of smoke still lingering in the air, the Guild was reorganized, and superstar Eddie Cantor was elected SAG president, succeeding Ralph Morgan. Frank Morgan then was appointed to the board of directors along with brother Ralph. The reorganization and influx of high-profile members led The Hollywood Reporter, evidently unaware of the Guild's nearly four-month existence, to print a headline declaring "Seceding players form 'Screen Actors Guild.'" Frank Morgan was also present during the May 9, 1937, annual membership meeting at the Hollywood Legion Stadium, when then-SAG president Robert Montgomery announced that SAG would finally be recognized as the bargaining agent by the studios. Morgan, who had received an Academy Award nomination three years prior, electrified attendees at the Guild's annual meeting, saying: "... [Y]our Board has been sitting almost constantly from the beginning of this week until now, waiting anxiously as the negotiating committee went to and from the producers, interviewing the highest officials. We have had days and hours of exalted optimism and days and hours of deep gloom. There is nothing we can lose as long as we have, face-to-face across the table with producers, the fine men on our negotiating committee. I would like to have a rising vote from you for the glorious work of these men, and nobody will give a damn if you cheer." The crowd went wild. The following year, on Sept. 22, 1938, Frank Morgan was offered the title role in The Wizard of Oz. Just over a decade later, Morgan passed away in his sleep from a heart attack at his home on Ridgedale Drive in Beverly Hills. He was 59. His 1946 jacket was among the belongings of his son George, who died in January 2003. It would have gone to a thrift store had not George's friend discovered the label sewn inside the pocket, which identified it as Frank's. Thanks to the discovery, the coat was preserved and now resides in our archives.