EXCLUSIVE: "I also was just in awe of the man that he was and what he gave us, so that was actually something that helped me a lot through those first two weeks," SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris says of her predecessor Ken Howard and the aftermath of his death in late March that saw Carteris, the former union…

Soap actress Rebecca Damon, who was elected EVP of SAG-AFTRA at the union's national board meeting on Saturday, narrowly defeated challenger David Hartley-Margolin, the union's VP of small locals. "It was very, very close," said Jane Austin, the union's secretary-treasurer. Sources say that one or two votes would have…

Gabrielle Carteris has been elected president of SAG-AFTRA by the union's national board of directors. The former star of Beverly Hills, 90210 had been serving as the union's acting president since Ken Howard's death on March 23. A longtime union activist, she'd been the union's second-ranking officer – EVP – since…

Contract negotiations are always tough, but these were downright tragic. And when they were over in the wee hours of Sunday morning, both sides raised a glass to toast their fallen comrades – one from each side who'd died suddenly and unexpectedly during negotiations for a new SAG-AFTRA commercials contract. The death…

UPDATE with more statements: Long before he became president of the Screen Actors Guild and later the merged SAG-AFTRA, Ken Howard starred as an NBA player-turned-basketball coach at an inner-city high school on The White Shadow. His death today at 71 brought condolences and remembrances from around the entertainment…

George Clooney shares a touching memory about Ken Howard, the veteran actor and union leader who died today at 71: There's a story about how a young actor met Ken on the Fox lot in 1983 and told him what a fan he was of The White Shadow. Ken asked that actor what he did, and the young man said, "Well, someday I hope…

Very few men or women alive today can say that they presided over the creation of a major labor union. With the passing of Ken Howard today, there is one fewer. The dream of merging SAG and AFTRA — the two most powerful actors unions in the country — had been kicking around for decades, but it might never have come…

SAG-AFTRA President Ken Howard died today in his home near L.A., the union announced. He was 71. No cause of death was given, though rumors of his ill health had been circulating earlier this year. The Emmy- and Tony-winning actor first was elected head of the Screen Actors Guild in 2009 and became one of the…

SAG-AFTRA has weighed in on the lack of diversity in Hollywood, releasing a statement today saying: "We proudly wish to publicly speak to our partners throughout the entertainment and news media with an invitation to continue the dialogue and, perhaps most importantly, suggest solutions to the situation in which we…

Recording artists will be getting a new piece of the revenue from the downloading and streaming of their songs under a new SAG-AFTRA recording contract that's just been ratified by the union's members. The pact includes a new payment formula for the sharing of these monies and for a portion of the record labels'…

Although the recent SAG-AFTRA election might suggest that the guild's two bickering factions will be sharing power over the next two years, the balance of power actually remains unchanged. The real power at the guild is held by David White, the union's national executive director. The national board of directors has…

The Los Angeles local of SAG-AFTRA is not only the union's largest, it's also its most apathetic. In the recent elections held by the guild's 25 regional locals, LA had the lowest voter turnout as a percentage of members eligible to vote. Of course, that's not counting the 0% voter turnout at nine locals whose members…