Saturday, February 2, 2008

As a member of the Screen Actors Guild and one of many who vote on SAG awards, I was annoyed to see that William Booth and Lisa de Moraes used the term "actress" when referring to awards given for leading and supporting roles ["Stars and Strike; The Awards Season Is Under a Cloud, but Hollywood Throws a Party With SAG Honors," Style, Jan. 28].

They should have used the terminology that SAG uses both on the ballots we receive and when award announcements are made at the ceremonies. SAG gives awards to "best male actors" and "best female actors" in leading and supporting roles. If Booth and de Moraes thought that "female actor" would confuse your readers, they could have noted that SAG calls professionals of both genders "actors" and not "actresses."

-- Nancy LeRoy

Washington