'West Side Story' Star Russ Tamblyn Recalls 1960 SAG Strike: 'Don't Sell Out Like Ronald Reagan' (Exclusive)

Tamblyn tells PEOPLE that he felt "it was pretty crappy" for Reagan to give away residuals for actors who worked in the '40s and '50s

Actor Russ Tamblyn has experience with Hollywood strikes.

The West Side Story star, 88, lived through the last time both the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) were on strike in 1960. In an exclusive chat with PEOPLE, Tamblyn recalls that while he was in the Army for most of that strike, he fully backed both the effort from 63 years ago, and does in 2023 as well.

"I have been a proud member of the Screen Actors Guild since 1949," says the Oscar nominee and Golden Globe Award winner, who is also the father of actress and writer Amber Tamblyn.

And although he is now retired from acting — and working on his memoir — Russ adds, "I still believe that the big studios and the big people with the money are just being greedy. And I think that they should give a break to the actors and the writers, and just share a little more."

"They're not asking for the same amount as the heads that are making millions — the CEOs who are making really a lot of money," he tells PEOPLE.

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Related: Hollywood on Strike: This TV Writer Has Been Juggling Side Gigs to Survive for Years

Russ also recalled Ronald Reagan's SAG presidency, an office he first held from 1947 to 1952. He returned to lead the union once again in 1959 and through the 1960 SAG strike, which lasted five weeks that year, according to The Washington Post. (The WGA strike lasted from January to June.)

The deal that was finally struck between SAG and Hollywood studios included a stipulation that actors would only receive residuals for films made in 1960 and later — which negatively impacted many in the industry, including Russ.

"I was pretty upset when I found out that Reagan gave away the residuals for actors that worked in the 1940s and the 1950s," Russ says. "Because I did most of my films, most of them in the 1950s."

"So that really cut me out of the loop, and I thought it was pretty crappy," adds the Peyton Place actor.

Related: Fran Drescher Says 'There's No Way to Predict' How Long SAG Strike Could Last (Exclusive)

Russ, who's also well known for his appearance in the 1954 musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, praises SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher for her "passionate" speech announcing the strike last week, and says she's "doing a great job" in her leadership role.

He also gives props to daughter Amber, 40, who has been "extremely involved" — particularly in the WGA strike, as she is a writer herself who recently published an interview with national vice president of SAG-AFTRA's Los Angeles chapter, Michelle Hurd, about the strike.

"And one of [Amber's] best friends is a writer, too. So she was really involved with that," Russ says.

Asked for any words of wisdom he would give those on the picket lines today, he tells PEOPLE, "My advice would be just to stay in there and keep striking."

"And don't sell out like Ronald Reagan did," he adds.

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