Equity at 100: How Actors' Equity Played Its Part in Wartime By
Robert Simonson Actors' Equity Association is celebrating its
100th anniversary this year. Here's a look at the union's
efforts during American military conflicts in the past century.
On March 18, 1918, General John J. "Blackjack" Pershing sent a
letter to the young Actors' Equity Association. It read: "A
great service can be rendered by the American theatre in
providing necessary diversion for our troops in France." America
was still at war at the time, and Equity did its part. Actors
began sailing with the troops to Europe in 1918. Stateside,
benefit shows went out on tour and actors sold war bonds through
impassioned curtain speeches. Still, those efforts were dwarfed
by what Equity accomplished during World War II. Through Camp
Shows, Inc. — funded to the tune of a half-million dollars by
the USO — Equity created three performing units: one for legit
plays, one for vaudeville and one for revues. Captain Maurice
Evans — a Broadway Shakespearea