Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/438809
SAGAFTRA.org | Special Issue 2015 | SAG-AFTRA 76 Sept. 16, 1980: A 29-year-old Robin Williams, onstage at the Hollywood Bowl, performs at the Evening of Stars benefit for Screen Actors Guild's emergency fund two months into the SAG and AFTRA TV/Theatrical Strike. difficult contract negotiations. The Guild and the American Federation of Musicians sponsored an Evening of Stars event at the Hollywood Bowl to raise money for the SAG Emergency Fund. AFTRA donated money. The American Federation of Musicians donated a full orchestra. The Stuntmen's and Stuntwomen's Associations supplied volunteers to assist in security. And the talent came from the SAG and AFTRA membership. Robin Williams was an artist on the top of the steering committee's wish list of members to perform or introduce the acts. It included actors Alan Alda, Loni Anderson, Ed Asner, Billy Crystal, Sally Field, Jane Fonda, James Garner, Charlton Heston, Lily Tomlin and Henry Winkler, and singers Irene Cara, Waylon Jennings and Melissa Manchester. The Los Angeles Times reported that Williams quipped onstage, "Wow, this is weird. There are little pools of Perrier all over the stage," and impersonated Disney and Warner Bros. animated cartoon characters Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Elmer Fudd and the Roadrunner, including their union demands: "First of all, we want more fingers." On that 1980 night, no one could know how Williams' career would expand into brilliant, versatile performances in feature films like The World According to Garp, Awakenings, The Fisher King, Mrs. Doubtfire, Dead Poets Society, The Birdcage and Good Will Hunting. His many awards included a 1997 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for The Birdcage (1996) and both a supporting actor Oscar and Screen Actors Guild Award in 1998 for Good Will Hunting (1997). — Valerie Yaros SAG-AFTR A ARCHIVES X 3