MovieChat Forums > I Love Lucy (1951) Discussion > Day Players

Day Players

posted 4 years ago by gary4movies (174)
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After rereading Bart Andrews' book on ILL earlier this year, I have been thinking about all the wonderful guest actors who appeared on the show. I was also reminded that frugal Desilu contracted certain actors for the entire week, while others with smaller roles were hired ONLY for the Thursday dress rehearsal and filming.

Example: there's no doubt in my mind that Verna Felton worked all week on "Lucy Hires a Maid.". But I'll wager she was hired as a day player in the earlier " Sales Resistance. " She had a tiny scene, and with lines learned, could've been given her simple stage directions at dress, then filmed later that night. Again, Desilu was tight, and Felton was a pro.

Other shows we can only take a guess. For instance, in "Baby Pictures", Doris Singleton DID work the entire week, as her role was central to the plot (and Singleton commented on her week on that show, discussing how she and Ball worked with dolls until Thursday's dress rehearsal). But I'm betting Hy Averback got his script Monday, but didn't get his blocking until Thursday dress. His part was small and he was enough of a pro to whizz through it.

By contrast, I'm sure he got the whole week in the Hedda Hopper show, as he has a lot of screen time.

Thoughts/other examples?

Side note: day players received $75 (!), while actors who worked the week were paid $250 (!!). I realize it was the 1950s, but STILL...

[–] steven1660 (146) 4 years ago

Working in the television industry myself I can tell you a lot of production companies are very cheap, even today, so this doesn't surprise me. How about the actress who played Marion Strong in "Lucy tells the Truth" She was only in one scene, and came in towards the end of the scene. I wouldn't be surprised if they had just payed her for the day, compared to the "club benefit' episode where she appears in a few scenes, I'm sure she was there for the whole week. I'm sure some of the more brief celebrity cameos were only done in a day. Hedda Hopper was only in the last scene and so was Rock Hudson, I wonder if they were there the whole week or not. They were probably paid well though I would assume.

[–] gary4movies (174) 4 years ago

Yes, Hopper was a day player for sure, and probably Hudson, too. However, they, too would've been paid a paltry $75. But Hopper was not only a former actress, she was a friend of Lucy's, so she was undoubtedly there for fun. Hudson was a young, very new star, who was visiting the highly rated ILL for promotion.

[–] steven1660 (146) 4 years ago

Wow, can't believe they would have been paid 75 bucks! And yes I'm sure most of the celebs did it for publicity and as a favor to Lucy.

[–] [email protected] (6082) 4 years ago

How about the great Frank Nelson? A few of the episodes that he was in could have come under "day player".
When he came to talk to Ricky as the Hollywood talent scout Ben Benjamin, he only had one scene. That was the one where Lucy bopped him on the head.

When they returned from Europe, he was the customs agent. That was one scene.

In his first outing as Freddie Fillmore, he only had one scene. So I'm guessing, day player. But in "Lucy's Hawaiian Vacation", he had two scenes. Would he have been paid for the week that time?

When he played the waiter in the restaurant scene in "Lucy Changes Her Mind", that would've been a one day job.

[–] gary4movies (174) 4 years ago

I highly doubt Nelson was a day player in "Ricky's Movie Offer.". The scene was very involved, and required intricate comic timing. Part of Bill Asher's job was to carefully work the physical blocking to perfection. And Ball and Vance had to really make it look believable that they were positioning an unconscious person upright on a couch, arms folded, hair parted, combed, and cigarette placed in hand. I'm sure they spent days on that.

I would also believe Nelson worked a whole week as Henry the waiter in " Lucy Changes Her Mind.". Again, the blocking of the scene was intricate. That said, Tom Henderson's "Why, Lucy", was definitely a one day gig.

[–] [email protected] (6082) 4 years ago

i guess I was equating one scene as a one day player. I'm sure if they hired Frank Nelson for the week that they got their money's worth!!

How about Charles Lane's appearances? I'd say he was a day player when Lucy got her passport or when he was in the father's waiting room with Ricky. Both roles required a minimum amount of dialogue and no extra physical business.

But when he was the business manager, do you think he was paid for the week? It's a much longer scene with a lot of dialogue.

[–] gary4movies (174) 4 years ago

I haven't seen "Lucy Goes to the Hospital" in at least ten years or more, so I can't wager a guess there.

But I would believe Lane worked the week in both "The Business Manager" and "The Passports" as timing would've really had to have have been worked out. And Lucy was a real stikler for perfecting scenes in rehearsals.

These are just my guesses, as I don't know anymore than anyone else.

Re: "The Business Manager", I'd guess Elizabeth Patterson's kitchen scene was as a day player.

[–] modica (4169) 4 years ago

The day players were paid poorly, because the stars had such high salaries. That's life though. Happens everywhere. People get low pay, so the rich can stay rich. That's America.

[–] gary4movies (174) 4 years ago

Adjusted in today's dollars, $75 for a day would be about $722 dollars. $250 for the week in 1954 would be about $2,408 dollars.

Not quite as bad as I originally thought, especially if you were, say, Sandra Gould in "The Loving Cup." Her single line is: "Either that or she played tennis with a sore loser."

Lucy used Barbara Pepper a LOT as a day player. Pepper had been widowed since 1949, and was struggling to raise two boys. She also drank, and couldn't be counted on for more than a line or two.

Side note: I remember an actress friend of mine who worked for a day on a soap here in L.A. back in 1989. She was paid $450 for the day (three lines of dialogue).

[–] [email protected] (6082) 4 years ago

Eve Arden surely must've been a day player in "Hollywood at Last". Her only dialogue was saying her name!

But speaking of having very little dialogue, I wonder how Ricky's "band" was paid. Except for Marco Rizzo, I don't recall the band getting speaking lines. Sometimes all they did was provide the background for some of Lucy's antics. Did they get paid more when they actually played their instruments?

And as for Desi's old friend Marco, one time when he had just aa few words, he flubbed them. In the early episode when Ricky goes home sick and Lucy stages the show, he tells Marco that he isn't feeling well and he's going home.
Marco says, "Okay Desi."
It's hard to hear, but he does say it.

Were they in a different category? They were there to play music and not act. Were musicians paid differently?

[–] gary4movies (174) 4 years ago

I believe I read the guys in the band were paid a nice weekly salary. I'm not sure whether Marco got more money for talking or not (which was almost never).

I watch "Ricky Loses his Voice" several times a year, as it's one of my faves, and I've never heard Marco say "Desi.". I just can't make it out.

[–] [email protected] (6082) 4 years ago

I've also seen "Ricky Loses His Voice" a lot. It wasn't until I bought the DVD that I heard it. I like to watch the extras like the "flub" section.

It is really hard to hear. It's more like Marco saying, "Okay, Des." It happens so quickly, it's hard to notice.

I've seen other collections of flubs with dialogue mistakes that I never noticed before either. There's a scene of The Brady Bunch where the kids are all hanging out in the yard playing on a trampoline (as I recall). The actor playing Greg calls his TV sister Jan by her real name, Eve (Eve Plumb).