The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) was a performers' union that represented a wide variety of talent, including actors in radio and television, radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers and recording artists (both royalty artists and background singers), promo and voice-over announcers and other performers in commercials, stunt persons and specialty acts - as the organisation itself publicly states, "AFTRA's membership includes an array of talent". With the information presently available, the union can lay claim to 65,182 members throughout the United States (with a figure of 131 000 quoted in early 2012). On March 30, 2012, it was announced that the members of AFTRA and of SAG had voted to merge and that the name of the new organization is SAG-AFTRA

The two largest locals are in Los Angeles and New York City, with the federation as a whole having 804 employees and total assets worth $30,403,661.00. AFTRA works in the interests of its members, primarily in the areas of contract negotiation and enforcement, advocacy (including lobbying, legislation and public policy issues) and member benefits such as employer-paid health plans. AFTRA is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, the International Federation of Journalists and the International Federation of Actors. AFTRA also shares jurisdiction of radio, television, Internet and other new media with its sister union SAG, whilst the latter is the body solely responsible for motion picture performances.

Kenneth Joseph "Ken" Howard, Jr. (born March 28, 1944) is an American actor, best known for his roles as Thomas Jefferson in 1776 and as basketball coach and former Chicago Bulls player Ken Reeves in the television show The White Shadow. He was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild in September 2009 and elected to a second term in September 2011.

Howard was born in El Centro, California, the son of Martha Carey (née McDonald) and Kenneth Joseph Howard, Sr., the older of their two sons. His younger brother, the late Don Howard, was also an actor. He stands approximately 6'6" (1.98 m) which in high school earned him the nickname "Stork."

He grew up in the Long Island, New York community of Manhasset. Howard had basketball in his blood well before The White Shadow debuted. The nickname "The White Shadow" was given to him by the Long Island press in 1961, as Howard was the only Caucasian starter on the Manhasset High School varsity basketball team.

A member of the National Honor Society in high school, Howard turned down several offers of basketball scholarships in favor of a more focused academic education. He is a graduate of Amherst College, where he served as captain of the basketball team. He was also a member of the a cappella singing group, "The Zumbyes." He attended Yale School of Drama but left to make his Broadway debut before completing his master's degree.

Esai Manuel Morales (born October 1, 1962) is an American actor. He is well known for his role as Bob Morales in the 1987 biopic La Bamba. He also appeared in the PBS drama American Family and in the Showtime series Resurrection Blvd.. However, he is best known for his roles as Lt. Tony Rodriguez on NYPD Blue and Joseph Adama in the science fiction television series Caprica.

Morales is of Puerto Rican descent and was born in Brooklyn, New York to parents Iris Margarita (née Declet), a union activist involved with the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, and Esai Morales, Sr., a welder. Morales began his pursuit of an acting career by attending the School of Performing Arts in Manhattan.

His first professional performances were in theater and television in New York, and his first film—Bad Boys, about teenagers in prison—was released in 1983. He played the ex-convict and biker half-brother of 1950s rock and roll singer Ritchie Valens in the 1987 movie La Bamba. Some of his other roles have reflected his socio-political interests, such as The Burning Season in 1994, My Family/Mi Familia in 1995, The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca in 1997, and Southern Cross in 1999. In the latter three films, as well as in a others such as Bloodhounds of Broadway in 1989 and Rapa Nui in 1994, Morales saw increased amounts of screen time, starting with a role in the Pauly Shore film In The Army Now. He portrayed a police officer in the film Dogwatch in 1996. He played Father Herrera in The Virgin of Juarez.

Lewis Niles Black (born August 30, 1948) is an American stand-up comedian, author, playwright, social critic and actor. He is known for his comedy style, which often includes simulating a mental breakdown, or an increasingly angry rant, ridiculing history, politics, religion, trends and cultural phenomena. He hosted the Comedy Central series Lewis Black's Root of All Evil, and makes regular appearances on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart delivering his “Back in Black” commentary segment. When not on the road performing, he resides in Manhattan. He also maintains a residence in Chapel Hill, N.C. He is currently the spokesman for Aruba Tourism, appearing in television ads that aired in late 2009 and 2010. He was voted 51st of the 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time by Comedy Central in 2004; and was voted 5th in Comedy Central's Stand`Up Showdown in 2008 and 11th in 2010.

Black is the son of Jeannette, a teacher, and Sam Black, an artist and mechanical engineer. He was born and raised in a middle-class Jewish family in Silver Spring, Maryland, graduating from Springbrook High School in 1966, summa cum laude.

Jill Eikenberry (born January 21, 1947) is an American film, stage, and television actress. She is best known for her role as lawyer Ann Kelsey in L.A. Law (1986–1994). She has won an Obie Award, been nominated five times for an Emmy Award and four Golden Globes, winning one, and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award in 2011.

Eikenberry was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and was raised in Madison, Wisconsin and St. Joseph and Kansas City, Missouri. She began studies in anthropology at Barnard College but in her second year she auditioned for and was accepted into the Yale School of Drama.

She met Michael Tucker at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., where they appeared together in The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail (1970) and Moonchildren (1971), the latter of which transferred to Broadway in 1972. She married Tucker in 1973 and they settled in New York City. She has a son, Max, and a stepdaughter, actress Allison Tucker (by Michael's first marriage).

Her first role in film was a minor role in the television movie, They've Killed President Lincoln (1971). Among her early feature films was Between the Lines (1977), directed by Joan Micklin Silver. She and Michael Tucker had small roles in Lina Wertmuller's 1978 success A Night Full of Rain, and she also appeared in An Unmarried Woman starring Jill Clayburgh the same year.