Screenland Plus TV-Land (Jul 1959 - May 1960)

Why Edd Byrnes Walked Out continued from page 13 ctioning under his pressures were dly serious to Edd. He felt that he i expected to carry himself like a ibrity — to dress the part and live the t so that his fans would not be let vn. To him, it was a simple case of nomic gloomsville. His expenses kept raling while his income lagged. ie gave up his bachelor apartment and ighed himself down with a fat mortgage a new home in the Hollywood Hills, home befitting a star. He lived like a r and he dressed like a star. He was rting when he shelled out $240 for a edo, and he hurts every time he adds tew suit to his wardrobe, a wardrobe of splendor and magnitude befitting the ject of such adulation. He has a private "or on the East Coast, and a private or in Hollywood. He has all his suits ide to order — invariably with expensive 1 lining and turned up cuffs. This habershery usually sets him back in the ighborhood of $300. "Kookie" thinks owes it to his fans, but he doesn't like ing it to his tailor at the same time. "You may not believe it," a confidant me vehemently to his defense, "but the eedometer on his Thunderbird needs reiring. He can't even afford to send his rl friend flowers. Figure it out yourself. doesn't cook. He eats all his meals :lit. If he buys only one $300 suit a onth, makes his payments on the house, jiys the secretary he had to hire to iswer his fan mail, and pays the cleanig woman who comes in twice a week, hat could be left?" What was left, as negotiations droned 1, was a young man determined to get a ?tter shake for himself on the one hand id on the other hand, equally determined 3t to burn any bridges behind him. For the most part, the studio coDerated in preserving this polite facade, kookie's" revolt was not even acknowldged as a walkout. It was pointed out by ie studio and his personal press agent like that he was on layoff, not suspenion. A false report that "Kookie" had uit in the middle of shooting was cateorically — and accurately — denied. In truth it was a long established policy or the stars to rotate in the series, with Kookie" frequently appearing only in he beginning and the end. Nor was it in usual for "77 Sunset Strip" to keep oiling before the cameras while "Kookie" jyas out of town on a p.a. tour. TT WAS further pointed out that the I series had eight or ten completed segments replete with "Kookie's" charming >resence. The general supposition — or lope — on both sides was that the dif I erences would be resolved before that f eserve was depleted. Nevertheless, Edd's demand for a better leal had wrought more havoc than was declared. The fact was that while he was out, the "77 Sunset Strip" set was dark. Through adroit management, the studio was not forced to attribute the shutdown to Edd's recalcitrance. It avoided this embarrassment by the simple expedient of casting non-rebellious Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., in a segment of "The Alaskans". As this magazine went to press, a new segment of "77 Sunset Strip" was scheduled a week away with "Kookie's" name on the call sheet. There were confident predictions that all the teeth in "Kookie's" comb would be sparkling free of dandruff by then, and that harmony — if not normalcy by old standards — would be restored. "I don't think he'll get what he wants," dissented a friendly but informed source at the studio. "I know Edd's been threatening to do this for some time. But I think he made a mistake. I don't think the studio will budge." What Edd wanted, to be sure, was not just a straight salary hike. He sought redress of other grievances as well. He was anxious to escape the "Kookie" stereotype and to get a chance to prove his versatility as an actor. He wanted to show that he wouldn't crumble if "Kookie" was banished. The studio, being less sentimental about creative drives, was content to postpone Edd's fulfillment as an actor as long as the public kept clamoring for a "Kookie" diet. CONVERSELY, Edd felt he was entitled to more than crumbs from the rampant "Kookie" craze. He maintained — privately and quietly — that in the public mind he and "Kookie" were inseparable, and that therefore he should be cut in on the revenue the studio reportedly has been amassing from merchandising such hot selling items as "Kookie" combs, "Kookie" greeting cards, "Kookie" belts. His attitude was that there would be no "Kookie" market without him. The studio's attitude was that "Kookie" was a fictional character it owned and created. As long as Edd Byrnes* name did not appear in the merchandising the studio took the position that it was not obligated to count him in on the "Kookie" loot. Edd's friends also reported him unhappy over the fact that he was restricted to a salary, but was getting no royalties on the song hits he recorded for Warners' disc subsidiary. They said in addition that he was plumping for residuals on "77 Sunset Strip", and they said he was holding out for a one-year contract extension rather than the two years proposed by the studio. He was furdier pictured as believing he should get the lion's share of the take on his personal appearances. Nor did his defenders bow to the frequently advanced premise that the studio made him what he is today. To the charge that his popularity is based on the gimmick of combing his hair, they pointed WHEN Edd started the hair-eombing device he had no idea it would catch on as it did. out that the gimmick was Edd's to begin with. In this, they were correct Edd first thought of combing his hair when he did a bit in "Girl On The Run" and wanted to make sure that he wasn't completely overlooked. The device worked so well that he sought and was granted permission to use it when he started appearing in "77 Sunset Strip". "I never dreamed it would go over the way it did," Edd admits. In one sense, Edd's feeling was that the comb had become a Frankenstein's monster chaining him to the role of a jivespouting parking lot attendant. In another sense, he felt that if he struck gold — even by accident — he was deserving of sharing in the resulting bonanza. To all intents and purposes Edd's walkout — by whatever name it is softpedaled — was a gentleman's disagreement. Beneath the surface, however, Edd once more was practicing the dogged creed he so often has credited for his phenomenal success in Hollywood: "I don't believe in waiting for your ship to come in. I believe in rowing out to meet it." Edd was scrupulous not to utter one word for publication personally or through intermediaries that was the least bit unseemly. The William Morris Agency was content to play the heavy if need be. But while Edd kept repeating with a straight face how grateful he was to the studio, there were those at the studio who said. "If he's so grateful, he sure has a strange way of showing it." It was Edd Byrnes' fond hope, at pre?~ time, that all would end in a blaze of sweetness and light. It was also the fond hope of his fans. What would happen across the land in the vent of a "Kookie" famine on television is really frightening to contemplate. END 59