Stagehands Union Boss Thomas Short Is the Hero Weary Reporters Have Hoped For

Can Thomas Short save Broadway? Michael Riedel offers a colorful profile of the head of the international stagehands union who, having already made his mark on the labor unrest on both sides of the continent, will have a pivotal role in whether Broadway’s theaters go dark with a stagehand lockout. We’ve already thanked Short for making labor unrest interesting for a change, but we had no idea just how interesting Short could make things!

According to Riedel, Short insists on being called “President Short” around the office and despises the head of the local chapter of his own union, James Claffey. Riedel also cites an L.A. Times report that Short once attacked his 16-year-old son with a baseball bat, and that Short allegedly went after a picket-line-crossing TV reporter — and beat him up. (No charges were filed in either case!)

We’re pleased as punch that Thomas Short seems to have been imported directly from the twenties. We just hope he finds a way to get back into the Writers Guild strike — what Hollywood needs right now is some head-crackin’.

Boss of Picket Line [NYP]
Earlier: Union Chief Thomas Short Makes Labor Unrest Fun Again