Sean Holmes

Sean teaches in the Film and Television Studies programme and is presently the Deputy Head of School (Undergraduate).

Research Interests

Sean’s research looks at the politics of cultural production, with a particular emphasis upon the early-twentieth-century American theatre and silent-era Hollywood. He has published extensively on the history of trade unionism in the American entertainment industry. Having recently completed a major study of the Actors’ Equity Association and the construction of an occupational identity in the American stage acting community, Sean is now in the process of shifting my focus to the history of work and workers in the British film and television industries.

Teaching Activity

Sean teaches modules on The Western, Post-War European Cinema, and Crime Cinema.

Edited with Andrew Dawson. Working in the Global Film and Television Industries: Systems, Space, Patronage, and Creativity (London: Bloomsbury Academic, forthcoming 2012).

“Vaudeville” in Lynn Dumenil, ed., Oxford Encyclopedia of American Social History (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2012).

“All Work or No Play: Key Themes in the History of the American Stage Actor as Worker,” European Journal of American Studies 2 (2008), document 6. Online since December 2, 2008. URL: http://ejas.revues.org/5673.

“Actors’ Equity Association” in Eric Arnesen, ed., Encyclopedia of Labor and Working-Class History (New York and Oxford: Routledge, 2007), 8-13.

“Actors’ Strike of 1919” in Eric Arnesen, ed., Encyclopedia of Labor and Working-Class History (New York and Oxford: Routledge, 2007), 13-14.

“Canned Cooking: Stage Actors, Screen Acting, and Cultural Hierarchy in the United States, 1912-1929,” Journal of American Drama and Theatre 17 (Winter 2005), 5-24.

“And the Villain Still Pursued Her: The Actors’ Equity Association in Hollywood, 1919-1929,” Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television 25 (March 2005), 27-50.

“All the World’s A Stage: The Actors’ Strike of 1919,” Journal of American History 91 (March 2005), 1291-1317.

“The Shuberts and the Actors’ Equity Association, 1913-1924,” The Passing Show: The Journal of the Shubert Archives (2003), 21-32.

 “When Elmer Met Juanita: Organized Labor and Women War Workers in the Toledo Flat Glass Industry, 1941-45,” Northwest Ohio Quarterly 73 (Summer/Fall 2001), 142-161.

 “The Hollywood Star System and the Regulation of Actors’ Labour, 1916-1934,” Film History 12 (2000), 97-114

Publications

Journal Papers

(2009) Holmes, SP., Book review on African American Theater: A Cultural Companion, CULT SOC HIST 6 (4) : 532- 533

(2008) Holmes, SP., All Work or No Play: Key Themes in the History of the American Stage Actor as Worker, European Journal of American Studies [online] 2008document 6

(2005) Holmes, SP., Canned cooking: Stage actors, screen acting, and cultural hierarchy in the United States, 1912-1929, Journal of American Drama and Theatre 17 (1) : 5- 24

(2005) Holmes, SP., All the world's a stage! The actors' strike of 1919, Journal of American History 91 (4) : 1291- 1317

(2005) Holmes, SP., And the villain still pursued her: The actors' equity association in Hollywood, 1919-1929, Historical Journal of Film Radio and Television 25 (1) : 27- 50

(2003) Holmes, SP., The Shuberts and the Actors’ Equity Association, 1913-1924, The Passing Show: The Journal of the Shubert Archives 21- 32

(2001) Holmes, SP., When Elmer met Juanita: Organized labor and women war workers in the Toledo flat glass industry, 1941-45, Northwest Ohio Quarterly 73 (3-4) : 142- 162

(2000) Holmes, SP., The Hollywood star system and the regulation of actors’ labour, 1916-1934, Film History 12 97- 114

Book Chapters

(1997) Holmes, SP., Margaret Sanger: A bibliographical essay. In: Parish, PJ. ed. Reader's guide to American history. Routledge -