Deal reached to prevent Hollywood strike

Hollywood’s actors unions, hoping to improve wages for less well-known performers, early today reached a tentative deal to avert a crippling walkout for the TV and film industry.

The three-year deal recommended by negotiators for the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists now must be approved by a majority of the unions’ 135,000 members.

Terms of the agreement were not immediately disclosed.

Negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios and networks, began May 15 and progressed slowly until the final days before the deadline on Sunday.

William Daniels, SAG president, said the deal will offer relief for middle-class actors, which negotiators called ‘‘the backbone of this industry.’’

Only about 2% of the guilds’ members earn more than £70,000 a year, including multi-million pound celebrities such as Jack Nicholson and Russell Crowe.