Call time: 8:30am Location: Red Studios Hollywood

One of the privileges of being a Background Actor is that you get to work on sets and in studios where some legendary movies or TV shows were filmed.  I always get goose bumps when I pass the gates at Warner Bros. or Paramount Studios. I mean think about it, some of the greats that walked through those gates; Brando, Gable, Grant, Hepburn, Bogart, the list is endless.  When I was a child growing up in NYC, I used to spend hours watching TV. I'd watch Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Star Trek, M.A.S.H, etc. On Sunday's I was glued to the movies: South Pacific, Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy, Gone with the Wind, Carousel, Casablanca, etc.  Those actors, those stories, those moments were magical for me as a child. Now as an adult, I revel in the moments when I can walk through a set or a stage that once housed a show or a movie that is part of this cinematic history. 

I was booked as a PEDESTRIAN on a cable show that shoots at what is today called Red Studios Hollywood. I'd never heard of this studio but then again, we are in Hollywood, there are tons of studios of all shapes and sizes everywhere. I arrive at the studio and am immediately stopped by security. I was told that I would have to carry around a little pink "Visitor's Pass". I was REPEATEDLY told that I MUST have this pass on me at all times while on the studio property. Okay, a bit excessive with security but whatever makes them happy. I walk to the stage which was only a few feet away from the entrance. The studio is not large at all. But as I walk around I notice the old bungalows being used for offices, wardrobe, lighting, etc. The studio has an air of history about it. You can just tell that it's been around for a long time. 

I arrive at the sound stage and find a seat along the wall with my other BGAs. It's breakfast so we are told to grab a plate and get in line. The catering truck is parked right outside the sound stage. It's parked on the street and we have to exit the stage through the back door. As I exit the door there is a security guard standing, keeping watch on the truck and the crew. As I'm about to walk outside he tells me to remember my pink pass. Now folks, I understand security but I was going to stand in line right in front of him with everyone else on the crew. He would forget me if I tried to get back in without my pink pass???   Really?? Okay, dude, whatever. I went inside, got the famous pink pass and went back to get my breakfast.

While on line, I struck up a conversation with another BGA who also had issues with this pink pass. I have to say, he was one angry dude who should have stayed home. While on line he tells me that he's a writer too and working on a book which he hopes to turn into a screenplay someday. I ask, "What is the novel about?"  He says and I kid you not, "About a mother who is so evil she wants to kill her son."
Okay, lite reading. I asked if it was fiction. He tells me that is it semi autobiographical. Okay, I get it, this guy's mother wanted to kill him. Why? Um...I'm not about to ask.  Anyway, he tells me that he is having a problem completing the manuscript because lawyers have advised him he could be sued for defemation of character.  I had to put an end to this conversation. It was only 8:30 in the morning, this was too much to handle.   I made an excuse about having to get hot sauce and ducked away.


Oh, boy. The day looked like it was going to be "one of those days." But then everything changed.

After breakfast, I sat around waiting for instructions when a charming older man sits down next to me. I will call him Charlie for this story. I'm estimating he is 70 years old and still going strong as a BGA. Charlie was, during the 50's and 60's, a working actor under contract with the studios. He worked with actors like John Wayne and Bob Crane from Hogan's Heroes. In fact, the stage where we were sitting was the actual stage that the very popular and classic TV show, That Girl was filmed. He knows this because he used to work the show all the time. He then goes on to tell me the history of the studio. It was created in 1915 and it was called MetroPictures. During the 1950's it was the home of Desilu Productions (I Love Lucy) and in fact renamed Desilu-Cahuenga Studios. In 1984, it was renamed Ren-Mar Studios and was the home of Seinfeld and Ally McBeal during the 90's. Finally in January of this year it was brought by a company that renamed it Red Studio Hollywood.  A popular Showtime show and a huge HBO hit now shoot in these studios.

Wow! I knew this studio had history.

Charlie was amazing. I spent all day with him. Whenever we had a break during shooting and went back to holding, I sat down and just let him talk. He told me stories about the old days in Hollywood, what it was like being a young rising star in the Golden Age of Film (amazing, shooting a Western one day then turn around and shoot an epic the next) and what some of the big names were really like (some had big alcohol and drugs problems that would interfere with a movie shoot). Interesting how things don't really change. I told him, those stories still go on today. He agreed but he made a great point. Back then, the studios controlled what was printed about a star. They controlled the publicity. Today, thanks to the pervasive media, it's a free for all.

 Charlie told me a great story about auditioning for an episode of The Twilight Zone. He read for the casting director and things looked good for him. They told him the date of the shoot and his heart sank because he was supposed to get married that same day then go off on his honeymoon. So he left the office sad that he would have to turn down this opportunity if they offered it to him because he couldn't cancel his wedding. Well, the next day the casting director calls him to tell him he had the part. Charlie then told the CD that he couldn't take it because he was getting married the day the shoot was supposed to start. So his big guest star role on The Twilight Zone would not happen...on this episode anyway. The CD remembered him for another role in a later episode and booked him then.  Charlie got to appear on an episode of The Twilight Zone after all.

Charlie also told me about the time he was guest starring on an episode of Hogan's Heroes and had a little "tiff" with Bob Crane himself. Apparently, Bob liked to hit the bottle on occasion and was a nasty drunk. But Charlie said as a professional young actor he had to swallow the abuse from Bob. At that time, Bob was a huge TV star and any physical confrontation would have immediately ended Charlie's growing career.

I asked him what he felt like doing background work now after having had such a great career. Charlie smiled and said, "I'm old and retired. This is fun for me. I get to act (which I still love), meet great people (like me :)), keep busy and stay productive." In fact, he got his retired school teacher wife a SAG card as well. She also does background work and loves it. He tells me that when she gets a background booking it's as if she booked a starring role in a movie she's so excited. Precious, just precious.

I had an amazing day. To have met and spoken to Charlie was magical. A moment in time that will remain carved into my mind and heart for a very long time. What a rare gem of a fellow, a professional and human being. Charlie, like the studio itself, embodies the rich, amazing cinematic history that I admire and respect so much.  I hope to see my friend again. I want to hear more stories and I promise my friends I will share them with you.