Clyde Kusatsu (right) with Bay Area supporter and fellow kamaaina Keith Kamisugi at the JCCCNC's annual dinner on Sept. 13 in San Francisco. Kusatsu co-emceed the live auction. Photo by J.K. Yamamoto

LOS ANGELES — Veteran character actor Clyde Kusatsu has been elected as a board member of the Hollywood Division of the Screen Actors Guild as well as an alternate to SAG’s national board, according to election results announced on Sept. 18.

Kusatsu, whose film and TV career began in the 1970s, ran as part of the Unite for Strength slate of challengers advocating for new leadership of the guild to better fight for their careers against increasingly powerful media conglomerates.

The Unite for Strength slate was backed by Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin, Sally Field and many others. Amy Brenneman, Adam Arkin, Ken Howard, Kate Walsh and Pamela Reed were among the Unite for Strength candidates who won seats on the national board.

In addition to Kusatsu, Dule Hill, Doug Savant, Gabrielle Carteris, Ned Vaughn and Assaf Cohen were among the slate members elected to serve as national board alternates and as Hollywood Division board members.

SAG also has a New York Division and many regional branches.

The guild is currently at odds with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers over contract talks, a situation that some fear may lead to a strike similar to the one by the Writers Guild that took place this past winter.

A total of 13,793 ballots were tabulated in the Hollywood Division (24.84 percent of ballots mailed).

The Hawaii-born Kusatsu said his candidacy for SAG leadership was also about improving representation of people of color in the industry: “I’ve been a working member of SAG for 35 years now and I can testify to the ongoing ethnic and cultural barriers in the entertainment industry. As a freshman theater major at Northwestern University, a professor questioned my interest in acting when there was only ‘The King and I’ and ‘Flower Drum Song’ — essentially saying I couldn’t make it as an actor because I was Asian American.”

Kusatsu’s earliest roles include such TV shows as “Kung Fu,” “MASH,” “Hawaii Five-O” and “All in the Family”; the made-for-TV movie “Farewell to Manzanar”; and the theatrical film “Midway.”

He played Margaret Cho’s father in the sitcom “All-American Girl,” Judge Lance Ito in the TV movie “American Tragedy” and Admiral Nakamura in “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

In addition to playing Dr. Okamura on “The Young and the Restless,” his latest credits include “Numb3rs,” “Monk,” “Shark,” “Boston Legal,” “Charmed” and “Still Standing” on TV and “Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay,” “Shopgirl” and “The Interpreter” on the big screen.

Also elected to the Hollywood Division board was Vietnamese American actress France Nuyen, who has been in the business for 50 years.

Regarding the debate within SAG, Kusatsu said, “Our Unite for Strength slate ran on a platform of unification, where we would join forces with AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) and represent with strength all the disciplines of our craft, from film, TV, games, commercials, animation, radio and new media. By leveraging our strength, we can better ensure that the working actor and the craft of acting can continue to flourish.”

For complete election results, visit www.sag.org.