death_date death_place name birth_date article_title birth_name occupation bgcolour
may 1973 18 april 1897 yes burbank , california , united states herb sorrell 18 april 1897 herbert sorrell
 herbert knott sorrell trade union organizer and activist # 6495ed
herbert sorrell

herbert knott `` herb '' sorrell -lrb- april 18 , 1897 -- may 1973 -rrb- was a hollywood union organizer and leader .
he headed the conference of studio unions -lrb- csu -rrb- in the late 1940s , and was the business manager of the motion picture painters union , local 644 until the 1950s .
at age 12 he found employment in a sewer pipe factory in oakland , california , and later in oakland he worked with union leader harry bridges .
at one point he tried boxing as a career .
he moved to los angeles in 1925 , became a scenery painter for the movie studios , and joined the local painters union .
in april 1937 , his union local was one of those unaffiliated with iatse which formed the federation of motion picture crafts -lrb- fmpc -rrb- .
that same month , the fmpc went on strike against the major studios .
in the picket line at warner brothers , sorrell 's determination earned him the rank of `` picket captain '' , and the attention of blayney f. mathews , head of warner brothers ' security , who had him arrested .
he was never charged and was released several days later .
this notoriety led to his subsequent position as the business representative for the painter 's union and as a result he became one of the major negotiators who settled the strike in june .
in may 1941 sorrell called for a strike against the disney film studio .
the strike was supported by the newly formed screen cartoonists guild , and the cooperation resulted in the organization of the conference of studio unions -lrb- csu -rrb- , which sorrell proceeded to lead .
in 1945 , sorrell lead the csu strike that led to hollywood black friday .
the strike originated from a dispute between two unions , csu and iatse , over which one of them had union authority over seventy-seven set decorators .
after an nlrb vote and war labor board decision in favor of csu , the studios refused to recognize csu 's bargaining authority , and the strike began .
after the violence on black friday , the strike quickly settled .
however collusion between the iatse leadership and the studios resulted in another strike in september 1946 , which the csu did not have the financial strength to endure .
sorrell was convicted of `` contempt of court '' and `` failure to disperse '' in connection with the 1945 strike , but acquitted of all the felony charges which included `` inciting to riot '' and `` rioting '' .
