1 min
Lawrence Dobkin On AFRA Taking Cecil B. DeMille's Membership Card Breaking Walls
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- History
On August 9th, 1986, actor and director Lawrence Dobkin was part of a SPERDVAC ( www.sperdvac.com ) panel along with Don Diamond and Lilian Buyeff to discuss their lives and careers. During the course of the conversation, Dobkin spoke about working for Cecil B. DeMille shortly after AFRA lifted DeMille's membership card.
In 1944 DeMille was at odds with the American Federation of Radio Actors because of a ballot proposal called Proposition 12. It threatened unions by making California a “right to work” state. If passed it would have allowed any non-union member to work in radio at a reduced scale.
AFRA chose to take one dollar from every Union member to fight the bill. DeMille was sympathetic to union ideals, he just disagreed with being forced to donate to the cause.
The argument dragged through late 1944. Eventually, the courts ruled against DeMille and he left the show on January 22, 1945.
On August 9th, 1986, actor and director Lawrence Dobkin was part of a SPERDVAC ( www.sperdvac.com ) panel along with Don Diamond and Lilian Buyeff to discuss their lives and careers. During the course of the conversation, Dobkin spoke about working for Cecil B. DeMille shortly after AFRA lifted DeMille's membership card.
In 1944 DeMille was at odds with the American Federation of Radio Actors because of a ballot proposal called Proposition 12. It threatened unions by making California a “right to work” state. If passed it would have allowed any non-union member to work in radio at a reduced scale.
AFRA chose to take one dollar from every Union member to fight the bill. DeMille was sympathetic to union ideals, he just disagreed with being forced to donate to the cause.
The argument dragged through late 1944. Eventually, the courts ruled against DeMille and he left the show on January 22, 1945.
1 min