HOLLYWOOD - Actress Melissa Gilbert was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild on Nov. 2, beating veteran television star Valerie Harper in a bitter contest over the SAG presidency, Reuters reported.
Gilbert, 37, best known for her starring role as Laura Ingalls, the middle daughter on the TV series Little House on the Prairie, received 45.3 percent of the votes, while Harper, 61, got 39.4 percent. The remainder of the votes went to two lesser-known candidates.
Just under 28,000 ballots were cast for leadership of the 98,000-member union. The turnout was typical for a SAG election, guild officials told Reuters.
Gilbert will not have any major contracts to negotiate over the two years of her presidency. She becomes only the third woman elected head of the union in its 68-year history, following Patty Duke and Kathleen Nolan.
M*A*S*H star Elliot Gould won as recording secretary and Kent McCord of 1960's cop show Adam-12 was elected national treasurer.