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Actors are a mercurial bunch, to say the least. They can land a career-making role, only to spend the rest of their lives complaining about it. A few cases in point:
1. The guy who didn’t want to be Mike Brady
Brady Bunch dad Robert Reed had been was a thorn in producer Sherwood Schwartz’s side since Day One. He always maintained that he’d only signed his Brady Bunch contract because the pilot was lame and it wouldn’t get picked up as a series. The show had also been described to him as a serious look at blended families. Instead, the serious dramatic actor who’d trained at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts found himself “trapped on Gilligan’s Island with kids.”
2. A very reluctant Radar
Gary Burghoff appeared as Corporal Walter “Radar” O’Reilly in every episode of the first three seasons of M*A*S*H. By season four, he was disenchanted with the direction his character was taking. He’d started out as crafty and sneaky, and not adverse to helping himself to Colonel Blake’s brandy. But the writers eventually turned him into a naïve farm boy who never sipped anything stronger than a Grape Nehi. Burghoff only appeared in about half the episodes over the next three seasons, and the CBS brass convinced him to stay long enough to play the focus of a two-part send-off during sweeps week in season eight. M*A*S*H writer Ken Levine notes that Burghoff partially expressed his disenchantment during his last appearance by refusing to wear his “Radar hat” during those final episodes, making him look less like the twenty-something company clerk he was playing and more like the balding, middle-aged man he was.
Gilligan’s Island, Good Times and more all after the jump…
3. A Prayer for Mrs. Kotter
Marcia Strassman landed a plum role as Mrs. Kotter on the hit sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter, but she wasn’t happy about it. “Every day I pray for cancellation,” she moaned in several interviews at the time. While some of us would shrug and think “a paycheck is a paycheck,” Strassman made it clear that smiling indulgently while Gabe Kaplan droned on about his great-uncle Schlomo and saying “Then what happened?” didn’t satisfy her artistic needs. Ironically, series star and co-creator Kaplan left after the third season, making Strassman the de facto star of the show. Such was her drawing power that Kotter was canceled promptly after season four.
4. Bad times on Good Times
When Good Times premiered in 1974 (as a spin-off of Maude), it was the first sitcom to attempt to portray a realistic nuclear African-American family. Despite struggling financially, James and Florida Evans remained wise, loving parents who brought their children up with strong family values. John Amos portrayed the patriarch, a proud man who refused handouts and worked hard to support his family. But shortly after the series premiered, the producers noticed that Jimmie “J.J.” Walker received the biggest audience reaction and the most fan mail. The writers quickly took the focus off the elder Evans and made J.J. the star of the show, and the plots became more outrageous and unbelievable. Amos was unhappy with the new direction of the show, and described Walker’s pop-eyed, grinning character in the press as a “minstrel show.” Not surprisingly, Amos’ contract was not renewed, and his character was killed in an off-camera automobile accident.
5. The castaway who wanted off the Island
When Tina Louise signed on to play Ginger Grant on Gilligan’s Island, she was under the impression that the series was going to be about the trials and tribulations of an actress stranded on a desert island, and that the show would revolve around her character. (I suppose we could pick a nit and wonder if the show’s title didn’t somehow clue her in, but why split hairs?) Louise was known for being difficult on the set, and dismissive of her co-stars. After all, her name and scantily-clad bod had been a staple of society page gossip columns and magazine pictorials for the past 10 years. She was a star, dammit, not an ensemble player. Of all the castaways, Louise has remained the sole holdout in most reunion projects and promotional gigs related to the show.
I know, I know…I realize these folks are ACTORS and they want to do IMPORTANT work, but I always have to laugh at the David Caruso and Shelley Longs who feel the need to leave a hit television show because they are SOOOO unhappy…most actors would KILL to be on a hit show, and here these folks are in such a rush to get off televsion…Please - if you don’t like your show, take a hike and go do dinner theatre in Podunk USA…you won’t be missed…
posted by donner on 10-31-2007 at 9:20 pm
I used to watch MASH. I remember learning that Burghoff was missing some digits on one of his hands and the show was always very careful to have him holding a clipboard or frame the shot to keep the hand out of sight.
posted by Trevor on 11-1-2007 at 6:38 am
I wonder if in at least some of the cases where the actor is SOOOO unhappy with the show it might not really be about being unhappy with a co-worker.
After all it could be career suicide saying they simply don’t like working with X. Even if they could secure another show right away, 5 years later X could marry a big executive - and the actor’s career would be over.
posted by Elizabeth on 11-1-2007 at 9:09 am
With the possible exception of Amos, who had some legitimate beefs (and is a good actor), these people are a bunch of spoiled prima donnas who didn’t realize how good they had it. It’s *acting*, not nuclear physics — there a MILLIONS of unemployed actors. Be thankful you have a job on a hit show and steady income. Idiots. How are their careers going these days (excepting Robert Reed who has “stopped performing” so to speak…)?
posted by Sid Morrison on 11-1-2007 at 12:01 pm
Leonard Nimoy’s autobiography was titled “I AM NOT SPOCK!” Many people responded by telling him how lucky he was for his career. So he wrote a second book, an amendment autobiography titled “O.K. I Am Spock” (someone can look up info on that)
posted by Tdave on 11-2-2007 at 12:44 am
They’re nice! I saw some of their photos on richmingle.com. really can’t believe!
posted by wrydarling on 11-5-2007 at 9:06 pm
I understand that Guy Williams absolutely hated being on Lost in Space - I can totally sympathize - halfway through the first season it went from serious space drama to “The Dr Smith vs The Robot Show”, with some of the stupidest aliens and storylines ever. Worse than any kiddie show I ever saw.
posted by Greg on 11-6-2007 at 11:18 am
The prima donnas I cannot stand… I can, however, understand an actor´s desire to forgo a steady paycheck for the chance of challenging himself with something different.
posted by GTT on 12-5-2007 at 4:39 pm
I can understand the desire to have something to challenge you. But, on the other hand, a steady paycheck and adoring fans are nice too, and they tend to come with popular shows.
(and yes, for the record, Leonard Nimoy’s original autobiography was “I Am Not Spock” followed a few years later by “I Am Spock”)
posted by Kate on 12-12-2007 at 5:06 pm
Marcia was cute in her day.
posted by Fillup on 12-18-2007 at 7:55 am
Wasn’t James Evans killed in an oil rig accident, not a car accident?
posted by Amberino on 12-26-2007 at 8:04 pm
I can answer as a producer in having worked with actors. First, it’s understandable to want to get off of Gilligan’s Island but less so Cheers. Just like if I offered you 3 times the salary but you had to work in desert injecting camels for three years, would you do it? So, yea, money is important but ultimately, it’s about more than that … but just as importantly, most “leading” type actors/actresses realize their time is short to be a star so they don’t want to stuck on something when they can get a showcase role … of course, sometimes it’s delusion but you never know, look at Sally Field the Flying Nun - ZERO sex appeal and in an idiotic show but she managed to overcome all that … if you have the talent - that what actors are afraid to admit - they might just NOT be all that talented so typecasting is quasi a myth - if you’re actually talented like Tom Hanks, Sally Field or Clint Eastwood - doesn’t matter where you started or what you were in … the smart actors who can’t be everything to everyone figure out their niche and exploit it …
posted by jbelkin on 1-4-2008 at 2:55 pm
Was anyone else a bit disconcerted by the parallel between family comedies Good Times and Family Matters that cast more and more focus on one off-beat character?
posted by Caleb on 2-13-2008 at 3:45 pm