John P. Connolly is an American actor and the Executive Director of Actors' Equity Association. Mr. Connolly assumed this position in March 2007, after serving six years as the President of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists ("AFTRA").
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as one of six boys, he currently resides in Los Angeles. Mr. Connolly married the former Bronni Jo Stein on February 14, 1998 and has one son, James, from a previous marriage.
On February 6, 2007, Connolly was named Execcutive Director of Actors' Equity Association. Connolly, who joined Equity in 1973, has appeared in numerous stage, film and television productions during his 35 year career as an actor. Among his nearly 200 stage credits are the Broadway production of BIG RIVER, New York Shakespeare production of The Golem, The Iceman Cometh with Al Pacino, and A Midsummer's Night Dream at the Walnut Street Theater in Philadelphia. Off Broadway, he played all 23 men in the life of The Only Woman General starring Colleen Dewurst and played all the men and women in Shirley Knight's life as Collette In Love. He has guest starred in The West Wing, Without a Trace, Crossing Jordan and Star Trek: TNG, among others. Connolly's film work includes leading roles in When The Bough Breaks, Innocent Victims and The Plague.
As a Union leader and activist, Mr. Connolly launched several initiatives at AFRTA. He created the President' Strategy Cabinet to guide AFTRA's long-range planning and response to fundamental changes the industry and the Legislative and Public Affairs Committee, which focuses on public policy. Connolly has been a key negotiator in practically every film and television contract for actors in the entertainment industry over the last ten years. Prior to his presidency, he served as National First Vice-President and Vice President of AFTRA's New York local, among other positions and is a Trustee of the Union's Health and Retirement Funds. Connolly also served for five years on the National Board of the Screen Actors Guild and Equity's national negotiating committees.
He worked closely with US Senators Grassley and Kennedy and then-House Majority Leader Boehner, and their staffs, in the development of the 2006 pension reform and protection bills. Currently, Mr. Connolly serves on the General Board of the AFL-CIO; the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's Economic Advisory Council; the US Department of Labor's Advisory Committee on International Trade; and is Vice-Chair of the American Workers' Defense Committee, a non-partisan 501©4 fund to support pro-union legislation and referendums nationwide. He is also a frequent guest lecturer and has received several honors from the labor and entertainment communities.
