When we think of actors, we most often think of successful people living the good life and acting out their fantasies in movies and on television. However, actors have normal issues that are faced by other people in everyday life, such as housing issues, health problems and even at times employment issues. The Actors Fund is a national, human services, nonprofit organization that works to help those in the entertainment and the performing arts industry. This organization helps to meet the critical and essential needs for those in the acting community who are sometimes faced with these issues.

The writer's strike that happened just this year brought about many changes in the acting industry. Many movie actors and television actors were faced with not having work during this time. It not only affected the actresses and actors, but also everyone who was working within the television and movie industry. The Actors Fund worked to help these individuals when they were out of work and to alleviate some of the stress caused by the situation. However, some of the jobs that were lost during the writer's strike will not be returning.

The Actors Fund was founded in 1882, by Albert Marshman Palmer. It was founded largely because Harrison Grey Fiske, who was the editor of the New York Dramatic Mirror and a former student of New York University, brought attention to the array of problems that movie actors and others in the profession were facing.

In 1892, at a fair held at Madison Square Garden, this organization was able to raise money to provide families and individuals with money assistance, setting up an Actors Fund Home for those in need of a place to live and even burial plots at a cemetery in Brooklyn. In 1980, when the AIDS crisis hit the film industry, the Actors Fund attempted to bring what help they could to the thousands of affected individuals.

There are many times when movie actors face problems in their acting career, as do others within the acting industry. At times such as this, the Actors Fund can help individuals and their families get back on their feet after facing the loss of a job or during a crisis. This non-profit organization allows those in the industry to "take care of their own" and is one of the organizations that may not be thought much about until it is needed.

However, it is there when individual's need it. The comprehensive programs that are offered by this organization are there to help meet the critical needs of those in the entertainment industry when they are needed. Those needs, including financial assistance, medical costs and even essential living costs can be met for those who are in serious need and are not able to provide fully for themselves.