Josef Bernay; Hollywood Union Leader

Josef Bernay, a Hollywood union leader for more than half a century, has died while attending a union convention in Hollywood, Fla. He was 75.

Spokesmen for the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees of the United States and Canada said Bernay died Thursday in the Florida city’s Memorial Hospital, where he was taken when he suddenly became ill. No cause of death was given.

Bernay had been attending an executive board meeting in preparation for the beginning of the union’s convention on Monday.

Bernay headed the union’s West Coast office from 1978 to 1983, and in the last few years had been active in efforts around the country to return motion picture production to Southern California.

He was vice president of the Los Angeles County Film Advisory Commission, which facilitates filming within the county, and also was vice president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.

“It will be impossible to replace a man like Joe Bernay,” said union President Alfred W. DiTolla. “His half-century record of devotion to the cause of the working man and woman is unmatched and will be unmatched for years to come.”

Bernay is survived by his wife, Martha, two daughters, a son, three brothers and two sisters.