Ned Vaughn (born November 20, 1964) is an American film and television actor who served as vice president of the Screen Actors Guild prior to becoming the founding executive vice president of SAG-AFTRA. He resigned that position on 21 August 2013, when he announced he would run as a Republican candidate for California's 66th State Assembly district, representing Los Angeles County's South Bay region. However, he later withdrew from the race. Early life and education Ned Vaughn was raised in Huntsville, Alabama with his sister Anna by their parents, Helen and Ed Vaughn. Vaughn's father was a news anchor and reporter for Huntsville's CBS Television affiliate (WHNT-TV) before starting his career as a civilian public affairs officer for the U.S. Army's Space and Missile Defense Command, which included work on Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, popularly known as Star Wars. Ned's mother, Helen, is an active professional artist whose early works were described as "celebrations of the many aspects of womanhood" and focusing on "the psychological truth of being female in today's society." At age 10, Vaughn performed his first acting role in a community theater production of the musical Oliver!, staged in the Von Braun Center's 2000-seat concert hall. Vaughn continued acting as he attended Lee High School and performed in several productions while attending Birmingham-Southern College. It was there that Vaughn decided to pursue acting as a career. He drove to New York with just $600 and initially stayed with a family acquaintance, making the commute to New York City from Peekskill. While taking classes at HB Studio in Greenwich Village, Vaughn made ends meet by working as a doorman at New York's Wellington Hotel, which he described as a crash course in human nature. Acting career In January 1986, Vaughn booked his first professional job from his first audition: a Miami Vice-themed Pepsi commercial directed by Ridley Scott, which premiered during the 1986 Grammy Awards telecast. However, Vaughn's role did not appear in the final cut. Over the remainder of 1986, Vaughn was cast in more commercials and performed in the HB Playwrights Foundation production of K on K by Franz Kafka. In February 1987, Vaughn was cast in his first starring film role in The Rescue, which also starred Kevin Dillon and featured James Cromwell. After filming was completed in New Zealand and Hong Kong, Vaughn moved to Los Angeles. Vaughn's acting career quickly took off