Theatre: Equity's Meredith

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When 70-year-old Actor Frank Gillmore resigned last month from his 8-year presidency of Actors Equity Association, he did so thankfully. For, while other theatrical unions (such as Screen Actors Guild) have come up, Equity has gone down, is no longer the dominant union of the U. S. theatre. Actor Gillmore will be president and executive director of Associated Actors & Artistes of America, which hopes to become the nucleus for one big actor union. The man chosen to succeed him as head of dwindling Equity was one of Broadway's youngest veterans, 29-year-old Burgess Meredith.

Oliver Burgess ("Buzz") Meredith has had his ups & downs. One of the early hardships to which he is fondest of referring was a penurious and unappreciated year at Amherst. But his rise in the theatre has been rocketlike. Generally regarded as the most accomplished American actor anywhere near his age, he has starred in such prestigious successes as Winterset and High Tor. Ambitious in other directions, he has been a firecracker presence in Equity councils since he became a member last year. With Equity's president on the verge of retirement and First Vice President Osgood Perkins dead, Burgess Meredith was increasingly mentioned as candidate for president of Equity. Actor Meredith, alive to the dramatics of the situation, swore he would not take the crown unless it were presented unanimously. Last week, by a vote of 14-to-13, he was elected first vice president to serve as acting president until the annual election next June. He took the job.