Ken Howard, who grew up in Manhasset and went on to become a successful actor best known for his role in TV’s “The White Shadow and, later, president of Hollywood’s largest film union. died March 23 at his Los Angeles home. He was 71.
In his role in “The White Shadow” which aired on CBS from 1978 through 1981, Howard played the part of a white coach directing an urban team.
Howard was said to have been nicknamed “White Shadow” in 1961 by the Long Island Press when he was a student at Manhasset High School because he was the only white starter on the varsity basketball team.
“I had the pleasure of meeting Ken in 2009 when he was being inducted into the Manhasset High School Booster Club Hall of Fame,” Manhasset Schools Superintendent Charles Cardillo said.
Cardillo said Howard even spent time with Manhasset’s theatre students, which he said was “a good gesture on his part given the tremendous talent that he was.”
“Ken exemplifies the best of Manhasset,” Cardillo said. “He reflected and represented excellence and that was evident of his time at the school when he was inducted in the Hall of Fame.”
Howard attended Amherst College and Yale School of Drama before joining the cast of Neil Simon’s “Promises, Promises” on Broadway.
He won a Tony award in 1970 for his performance in “Child’s Play” which captured director Otto Preminger’s attention.
Preminger cast Howard opposite Liza Minnelli in the film “Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon.”
He also gained acclaim for his role as Thomas Jefferson in “1776” and later won the 2009 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for his work in “Grey Gardens.”
As president of the Screen Actors Guild since 2009, Howard oversaw the merger of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists to form SAG-AFTRA in 2012, acting as its first president.
In a statement released by the union, Howard was described as a hands-on leader who worked to return the union to fiscal stability.
“Ken was an inspirational leader and it is an incredible loss for SAG-AFTRA, for his family and for everyone who knew him. He was a light that never dimmed and was completely devoted to the membership. He led us through tumultuous times and set our union on a steady course of excellence. We will be forever in his debt,” SAG-AFTRA Acting President Gabrielle Carteris said in a statement.
Howard was elected to the national board of directors of the Screen Actors Guild in 2008 and to the SAG presidency in 2009.
He served two terms and was widely viewed as the leader of the 2012 merger that created SAG-AFTRA, ensuring meaningful representation for nearly 160,000 actors, broadcasters and recording artists.
He was appointed co-president upon merger and in 2013, became the first elected president of SAG-AFTRA and was re-elected in 2015.
Howard was recognized with the George Heller Memorial Gold Card in 2015 — the union’s highest service honor, and in 2013 received the Leadership Recognition Award for his work on merging the unions.
“Ken was a remarkable leader and his powerful vision for this union was a source of inspiration for all of us. He was an exceptional person and we are deeply saddened by his passing. He had a remarkable career and he never forgot what it was like to be a working performer. The merger of SAG and AFTRA was something of a “North Star” for him and, once he fixed upon it, he never wavered from that goal. My heart goes out to his loving wife, Linda, and to their family. He will be deeply missed,” said David White, the organization’s national executive director.
