New Equity President, Actor Patrick Quinn, Runs Unopposed In May 20 Election Actors' Equity, the 40,000-member union of stage actors and stage managers, has a new president.
The union announced on May 23 that actor Patrick Quinn (The Sound of Music, Beauty and the Beast, Damn Yankees, Lend Me a Tenor, Oh! Coward, A Day in Hollywood, A Night in the Ukraine and City Center Encores! production of Wonderful Town) had been elected the new Equity president on May 20 after the ballots in Equity's secret mail referendum vote were counted.
Quinn has been the first vice president of the Actors' Equity Association (AEA) since 1988 and a member of Equity's powerful governing Council for 23 years. A union source said Quinn, who took 88 percent of the ballots cast in his category, ran unopposed for the office of Equity president. In all, 7,107 ballots were cast in the election.
Actor Ron Silver, who has served as Equity's president since his election nine years ago, has already stepped down.
An Equity statement said that "in addition to a full slate of officers, 17 members have been elected to serve on the governing Council: nine from the eastern region, two from the central region and six from the western region." Elected to three-year terms as officers at Equity were president Patrick Quinn, first vice president Mark Zimmerman, second vice president Jean Paul Richard, third vice president Alan Hall, secretary treasurer Conrad Fowkes (incumbent), eastern regional vice president Arne Gundersen (incumbent), central regional vice president Madeleine Fallon (incumbent) and western regional vice president Carol Swarbrick (incumbent).
In the three regional areas, elections were held in various categories representing terms for principals, chorus and stage managers.
In the eastern region, elected for five-year terms were (principal) Hal Blankenship (incumbent), Joel Carlton, Nicole Flender (incumbent), Dana Ivey, Bob Knapp (incumbent), Maureen Moore (incumbent) and Judy Rice (incumbent); (chorus) Marty McDonough (incumbent); and (stage manager) Sandra M. Bloom.
In the central region, elected for five year terms were (chorus) Dev Kennedy (incumbent) and (stage manager) Malcolm Ewen (incumbent).
In the Western region, elected for five year terms were (principal) Vernon Willet (incumbent), Gary Montgomery (incumbent), Karen Stone and (one year term) Ed Badrak; (chorus) Craig A. Mayer (incumbent); and (stage manager, one year-term) L.A. Lavin.
-- By Murdoch McBride
