Re: Recurring characters' pay -- Bonanza: Scenery of the Ponderosa Forum

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Date Posted: 18:47:06 05/17/23 Wed
Author: Bonanza
Subject: Re: Recurring characters' pay
In reply to: Rick 's message, "Re: Recurring characters' pay" on 19:23:27 05/15/23 Mon

The actors listed at the end titles, including the stunt men would get $500 a week. That was lotta money back then, and they would gladly take it. The guest stars you see with the main cast would get around $6,000 or $7,500 for an episode, top performers would get up to $10,000, like Lee Marvin. By 1967, NBC was cutting cost down a little bit and the guest stars would get $3,000 for an episode.

Rick

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[> [> [> Re: Recurring characters' pay -- Jarrod, 18:55:27 05/19/23 Fri [1]

Interesting. Thanks for the clarification. So I guess the guest stars at the end came a bit cheaper, people like Loretta Swit and Kate Jackson...but in a way that makes sense, because they were not established movie stars like those earlier big name guests such as Yvonne DeCarlo.

Arguably the bigger name guests stars who cost more, helped the show get higher ratings in those earlier seasons. Or am I oversimplifying and generalizing things here??

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[> [> [> Re: Recurring characters' pay -- Rick, 18:45:36 05/27/23 Sat [1]

Hi Jarrod,

In general, you’re correct. The big name actors would always get the most money at the opening credits, where the featured actors at the end titles would get the lowest salary. Yeah, in the beginning the big name actors you would see onscreen would grab the ratings. That strategy was commonly used back then. By the way, the actors seen at the end titles would be hired by the directors.

Rick

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[> [> [> [> Re: Recurring characters' pay -- Jarrod, 09:33:16 05/31/23 Wed [1]

Thanks. I realized that my previous post was a bit confusing. When I was referring to Loretta Swit and Kate Jackson, what I meant is that they were "name" guest stars in the final seasons, but they were not movie stars and hadn't even had their breakthrough roles on TV yet. Loretta's appearance in 'A Visit to Upright' occurred the season before she began appearing on MASH. Likewise, Kate Jackson's guest turn in 'One Ace Too Many' occurred the season before she began on The Rookies. So compared to those old time movie stars that were often used in the early seasons of Bonanza, I am sure Miss Swit and Miss Jackson were substantially more cost efficient to hire.

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[> [> [> [> Re: Recurring characters' pay -- Rick, 18:48:44 05/31/23 Wed [1]

Yes, for the most part. The casting directors who worked at Paramount and Warner Brothers did things their own way. William Mayberry liked to hire big names, where Milt Hammerman liked to hire lesser known actors. Hammerman left to work at Universal in 1972 and was replaced by Bill Scully I think.

Rick

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[> [> [> [> [> Re: Recurring characters' pay -- Rick, 18:53:55 05/31/23 Wed [1]

Joe Scully came in a 1972 and replaced Hammerman.

Rick

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