The Doctors

[robbwolff]

Do you know which one is Ginny Martin? Greta Rae is the actress. Interestingly, another Nurse Martin showed up in this week's credits (played by Mimi Cozzens).

[amybrickwallace]

Nurse Ginny is the younger black nurse. She bumped into Dr. Ed Stark when he first started at Hope as Nick's lab assistant, and it was hinted that they might be paired off but nothing ever came of it. We also got to see her, Carolee and Nurse Wheeler in civilian clothes for Althea's bridal shower at the Powers house.

[robbwolff]

Ah, thanks. I couldn't place her at all. I do remember that scene between her and Ed now that you mention it.

[amybrickwallace]

You're welcome! I'm looking forward to seeing this Dr. Simon Harris (I figure he'll play in the Althea story), and further down the line another black doctor comes to Hope named Hank Iverson.

[DanMan869]

Thanks, Paul--that's what I figured (budget) was the reason, but it was still frustrating to watch sometimes!

Robb, you're right that they all did great jobs with their facial expressions. And Nurse Wheeler has some looks that could've killed! LOL And thanks for sharing Dorothy Butts' (Nurse Grant) first name after I'd forgotten it! The other day, Joe the orderly also had a few lines when they were chasing Phillip Townsend around the hospital! That same episode, I was disappointed that it wasn't Nurse Wheeler, Nurse Grant, or even Nurse Ginny Martin that had all the lines that they gave to this heretofore unseen nurse dealing with the Phillip Townsend calamity. Budget, yes...but still too bad!

Also, I wasn't aware of Dr. Simon Grant's impending arrival, but was thinking of Dr. Hank Iverson (thanks, AmyBrickWallace!)

[TimWil]

Some months ago I posted here that I did a play with Ms. Butts in 1975-she and Isabel Sanford (The Jeffersons) were sisters!

[robbwolff]

Actually, a lot of websites (including IMDB and a memorial page for Isabel) say that they were cousins, not sisters. There are also references to her being the youngest child and the only one to survive infancy.

Edited June 15, 2015 by robbwolff

[TimWil]

Ah, I stand corrected, then. That was my recollection of what she said. It was a long time ago!

[~bl~]

From what I understand you have to pay an actor more if their character has a name when they appear than if they do not when they are a dayplayer. (I have no idea if that was how it worked when "The Doctors" was in production.)

[danfling]

I don't think that it matters if the character played by an actor has a name or not. I think that it has to do with the number of words that a performer utters on camera.

[applcin]

Still about 2 months behind (don't want to read the recent posts yet, I'm trying to stay fairly unspoiled, lol), but in case it hasn't been mentioned, Gerald Gordon shows up this Thursday morning at 4 am on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries on a 1982 episode of Hart to Hart, "Harts On Their Toes."

[amybrickwallace]

I saw that episode!! Finally breaking out of the doctor mold, he played an FBI agent.

[~bl~]

I was reading more information about background players today on the SAG/AFTRA site. http://www.sagaftra.org/background-extra-performers

How does a background performer qualify for an upgrade to principal performer?

There are several ways to qualify for an upgrade to principal performer. Here are the most common:

A performer is directed to speak a line (other than omnies); or

A performer is performing an identifiable stunt; or

A performer is in the (1) foreground, (2) identifiable, and (3) demonstrating or illustrating a product or service or illustrating or reacting to the on/off camera narration or commercial message. (The performer must meet all 3 criteria simultaneously in the spot to qualify for a principal upgrade.)

--I think some of our background people on The Doctors who don't speak fall into this, they are shown, we can identify them by name...and they are reacting like if Carolee passes them something or the phone rings and they pick it up on screen even if they don't say anything we can hear. So basically it looks like the silent people on "The Doctors" weren't truly extras/background, but were dayplayers, under-5 status at least with how things work today.

[amybrickwallace]

That makes sense - and they truly were identifiable!! We see them as much as the stars. By the way, Nurse Wheeler had a couple of lines in today's first episode.

[TimWil]

As a member of SAG-AFTRA who's been upgraded in quite a few film and TV projects since the 1970s I can confirm that to get an upgrade today all you have to do is speak one word. On a film you go from getting $152 (as a background actor) to $880 (principal actor). And, like I just did on a film called The Big Short, you get both if you were upgraded on set.

The daytime soaps were all under an AFTRA contract-the unions only merged a few years ago. They had a very different contract/pay scale than films, which were under the SAG contract. If you said five lines or less on any daytime soap than you'd be classified as an U/5 player-this paid about $180 in the early 80s when I worked the soaps. The "silent" background actors on The Doctors were just that-background actors. If they said 5 lines or less than they were U/5 players.

Edited June 17, 2015 by TimWil