What with Kal Penn trading in his job on Fox’s House to work as Special Liaison to the Entertainment Industry in Obama’s, Sean Penn snagging interviews with Castro, and Angelina’s repeat trips to the UN, it’s easy to forget that it wasn’t long ago that actors occupied a much less exalted place in American society (well, okay, not that easy if you read my Welcome post, but moving on…).

In the late 1800s theater-going was a huge aspect of American cultural life, yet actors were regularly denied burial in church cemeteries, had no organized labor protections (SAG and Equity were still decades-off dreams) and the profession had a little PR problem of, well, you know, Lincoln having been off-ed by a scion of the country’s most prominent acting family.

An idealistic college student named Harrison Grey Fiske began writing for The New York Dramatic Mirror, penning articles about the disconnect between the glamor of actors’ on-stage lives and the realities of their transient, insecure off-stage ones. When a chunk of the paper’s stock became available, he got his financier Dad to grab it, and young Harry became the paper’s editor (funny how that happens). In his perch of power he set about corralling support for a “fund” to provide on-going assistance to American actors, and soon after, with the help of theater manager Albert Marshman Palmer, The Actors Fund was born. So the next time your Dad rebuffs your request for acting class money, guilt him with the story of the great works of the best, most magnanimous show-biz Dad in history.

According to its website, The Actors Fund is “a nationwide human services organization that helps all professionals in performing arts and entertainment. The Fund is a safety net, providing programs and services for those who are in need, crisis, and transition.” Need, crisis, transition!? That sounds like 90% of the profession at any one time.

And indeed, the Fund’s myriad activities on both coasts provide on-going support to thousands in the entertainment industry each year. The Fund administers retirement and HIV+ housing facilities such as The Aurora in New York and the Actors Home in LA; runs the Al Hirschfeld Free Clinic in NY; provides tons of referrals for low-cost clinics in Los Angeles; offers numerous workshops and support groups in both cities each week on job search skills with partner The Actors Work Program; and hosts a wonderfully informative ‘Welcome to Hollywood’ round-table once a month for those LA newcomers. The Fund even earmarks thousands of dollars annually to be distributed to artists for ‘emergency financial assistance.’ Consequently, it was able to help many caught out during last year’s WGA strike with one and two thousand-dollar cash grants.

When I’ve suggested to friends-in-distress that they see what The Fund has to offer, a few times I’ve been met with a quiet yeah/sure/whatever. With next month’s rent nowhere in sight and the groceries going on the credit cards, one friend said he was hesitant to check out The Fund because he didn’t want to be around a bunch of ‘losers.’ This is LA, my friends! Many of those in the industry falling on hard times have done so from exceptional heights, and will likely ascend to others in the future. In the two financial-planning workshops at The Fund I’ve taken in the last year, I’ve met an Emmy-winning costume designer, a producer whose films have made millions, an oft-produced up-and-coming playwright, and an internationally famous acting teacher whose book has been on my shelf since my teens. Not exactly loser-y. It’s humbling to hammer out a budget next to a role model, not to mention a great education in the fortitude it takes to forge a life in the arts. I wonder if a key to these colleagues’ longevity is the ability to admit that how they’re handling they money/health/job search isn’t working and to know how to ask for help.

While revealing your bank balance and/or unemployment status around a conference table might not be your style (said acting teacher looked like he was going to die when we were each asked to grab markers and draw ‘mindmaps’ of our interests) the Fund has lots of other ways of offering resources, from one-on-one career counseling, computer classes and their weekly ‘Job-blast’ – a huge email of full- and part-time area jobs sent out to those who’ve attended a two-hour job-search skills orientation. The Fund even has a computer room with free access to a Westside Rentals password (and they validate parking!).

Peruse the website at www.actorsfund.org, give a call and/or stop by next time in the Museum Square building on Wilshire visiting SAG or LACMA. Their services are free to all members of the industry unions and to those not in the unions who meet industry income guidelines (call for details).

The Fund supports but is also supported by actors too. The next time you get a great booking or residuals check, think about sending a little cash their way. The Fund’s very existence reminds us of our work’s value to society and our duty to take care of ourselves whether we’re “working” or “working on working.”

Photo by Jaako @ www (dot) Jaako (dot) com