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IN | THE | CAST Carl Reiner: he was paid $1 a week. C ARL REINER, the talented young comedian who throws Sid Cae¬ sar most of his straight lines, was, when he started, probably the most underpaid actor in the business. For his first job, as a 16-year-old juvenile with the old Daly Theater stock company in New York, Carl re¬ ceived exactly nothing. From that point, he progressed rapidly until he was drawing down the fat fee of $1 per week, with orders from the man¬ agement not to tell the other actors. Carl next joined a summer stock group (“they let me play leading man because I had a mustache—in fact, I think I looked older then than I do now and I’m 31”). Then, after a summer in the borscht belt and three weeks singing in the chorus of The Merry Widow, Carl en¬ tered the Army. He volunteered for special services and turned to comedy with one of the GI units touring the Pacific theater under the supervision of Maurice Evans. He was discharged from the Army in 1945, played in the road company of Call Me Mister and then broke into TV on the old 54th Street Revue. It was there that he caught the eye of Max Liebman, impresario of Your Show of Shows. In 1950, Liebman of¬ fered him a job on the Sid Caesar- Imogene Coca program, and he’s been one of the cast regulars ever since. During the past season, Carl branched out into panel shows, join¬ ing the lineup on The Name’s the Same. According to him, this panel show dodge is strictly gravy for actors. “Besides being fun,” he said, “there are no lines to learn, no rehearsal and the pay is good.” Although he talks blithely about his work, Carl is deeply serious about his comedy. For example, Caesar’s German professor skits. “The jokes are all written and rehearsed,” Reiner said, “but the charm of it all lies in Sid’s freedom and his ability to ex¬ pand on the lines. He ad libs as he goes, and it’s my job to ‘feel him out,’ feeding him the right questions at the right time.” 'I don't care if they are televising this operation. Miss Ross. I insist you wear a mask.' 21