Ronald Reagan led an actors strike decades before his U.S. presidency

The year was 1959, and talks between the Screen Actors Guild and movie studios had stalled.

The actors sought residual payments from TV channels that reran films they’d worked on, in what would have been a drastic shake-up. Producers, seeking higher profits from new media, refused to negotiate.

So SAG called in a ringer who had retired from union leadership: Ronald Reagan.