Clinton News-Record, 1974-12-19, Page 23checking your
with Jerry Appleton
PAGE 3
ALVIN'S TV
ROGER MAJESTIC COLORED TELEVISION
ANTENNA & TOWER INSTALLATIONS. & REPAIRS
DIAL 524-9089 GODERICH, ONT. 162 MARY ST.
My little boy, in fact the whole
family, enjoys 'Black Beauty' ..
we are glad it returned!
Mrs. S.H., Montreal, P.O.
'The Adventures of Black
Beauty' — seen on certain
stations of the CBC network —
had a brief run in Canada in
early '73. A new 26-week series
made its debut this past fall on
the CBC to the delight of many
young (and older) viewers. A
must for horse lovers of all ages,
the half-hour adventure series is
based on the Anna Sewell classic
children novel of the same title.
'Black Beauty' is produced by
London Weekend Productions
and shot entirely on location in
the county of Hertfordshire,
England. In charge of production
is Sidney Cole whose past credits
include the very popular 'Robin
Hood' and 'Danger Man' series
of years ago. 'The British show
has aired in some 30 countries to
date. The cast includes
newcomer 15-year-old Stacy Dor-
ning in the role of Jenny,
Roderick Shaw (as Kevin),
William Lucas (Dr. Gordon),
Charlotte Mitchell (Amy) and
Stephen Garlick (Ned). Miss
Dorning is not only new to the
'Black Beauty' cast but new to
acting! The young horsewoman
had never entertained the
thought of acting until ap-
proached by the producer and
given the opportunity to audition
for the role of Jenny. And oh yes,
the title role is played, by an
eight-year-old American trotter
named Black Jet.
*
I've alwayt liked Miss Nancy
Walker on the TV and always
wanted to know about her liut
didn't have a place to write to.
Mr. G.J.L., Brandon, Man.
The multi-talented Nancy
Walker was horn on a May 10th
in Philadelphia, the daughter of
Dewey and Myrtle Barto, the
famous vaudeville team. As a
child she travelled with her
parents throughout Europe and
across North America. At the age
of 19, she made her acting debut
on Broadway in what was plan-
ned as a bit part but what
developed into a lead role on the
strength of her comic talents.
Miss Walker repeated that very
same performance when the
movie version of 'Best Foot For-
ward' was produced. Over the
years Miss Walker has
conquered audiences in
Hollywood-made films ('Girl
Crazy', 'Broadway Rhythm' and
'Meet the People'), the Broad-
way stage ('Pal Joey', 'On the
Town', and the recent revival of
'A Funny Thing Happened On
The Way To The Forum' with
Phil Silvers) and most major
television shows. She has created
two running characters in two
current series — the long suf-
fering Ida Morgenstern on 'The
Mary Tyler Moore Show' and
now 'Rhoda' and the
wisecracking housemaid,
Mildred, on NBC's popular
'McMillan & Wife'. The 4'11"
actress-singer-dancer has recen-
tly added one more talent — she
made her debut this season as a
television director on a 'Mary
Tyler Moore Show' segment. She
and her Musical theater coach-
husband live in a hilltop home in
Studio City; California. Their
daughter, Miranda, is away at
college in New York.
* *
I'm a big fan of 'Another
World' which plays during the
afternoon and have a question
— the actor who plays Vic
Hastings looks very familiar,
who is he?
Mrs. H.V., Cornwall, Ont.
A recent addition to the
daytime drama 'Another World',
.John Considine has been acting
since he was a tot. He has ap-
peared in many tv series (from
'Death Valley Days' to 'Marcus
Welby') as well as movies ('The
Greatest Story Ever Told'). Ac-
tor-writer-professiona l
photographer John bears a
striking resemblance to his
younger brother Tim Considine
— once the eldest son on 'My
Three Sims'.
* * *
You told us all about how
much different TV shows cost .
. . I would like to know how
much actors get paid?
John D„ Ottawa, Ont.
There is of course no set figure,
no slide rule by which salaries
are established for performances
on television, The price tag
varies from show to show and
ranges between a few thousand
to a percentage of the show's
profits (which can end up into
the six figure bracket), A .name
star familiar to viewers can com-
mand $5,000 per half-hour
episode while the established
performers are likely to reach
$10,000 per show, Star status is
indeed alive and prospering in
Hollywood — Valerie Harper
received $5,000 per episode for,
her appearances on 'The Mary
Tyler Moore Show' until the day
she was promoted to 'star' of her
own CBS series — 'Rhoda'. At
that moment her salary jumped
to a reported $20,000 per show
plus part ownership of the series'
profits. The two young stars of
NBC's 'Emergency' were recen-
tly given a raise this season from
$1,500 to $4,500 per hour-long
episode. Now before anyone con-
vinces himself to hop a train to
the land of milk and money, let
me quickly explain that some
80% of the actors union rnem-
hers earn a yearly salary of
$5,000 or less — so for every
potential millionaire there are a
hundred paupers dreaming!
* *
May I have the address of
Ronnie Howard of 'Happy Days'
. . I think he's neat!
H. C., Kingston, Ont.
Ronnie Howard was six when
The Andy Griffith Show' first
aired on television. He played
the lovable Opie for seven years
before the show went out of
production. Twenty-year-old
Ronnie has suddenly found him-
self starring in still another
comedy hit series — ABC's
'Happy Days'. Write: 'Happy
Days', ABC-TV, 4151 Prospect
Ave., Hollywood, Calif. 90027.
* * *
*The highest rated theatrical
movie on television during the
73-74 season was ABC's airing of
Arthur Hailey's 'Airport'. 'In-
terestingly enough 'Planet of the
Apes', 'Beneath the Planet of the
Apes' and 'Escape from the
Planet of the Apes' placed 2nd,
4th and 7th respectively. The
ironical fact is that the same net-
work's gamble on an hour-long
weekly series based on the 'Apes'
concept failed miserably. The
series has been cancelled.
*In the case of made-for-,
television movies during the past
season the battle for top honors
was a much closer race. 'The
Waltons' Thanksgiving Story'
ended in first place with
Elizabeth Montgomery's 'A Case
of Rape' a very close second.
The Autobiography of Miss Jane
Pittman' was right behind in
third spot. A big disappointment
was the placing of 'The
Execution of Private Stovik'
starring Martin Sheen — it
shared thirteenth spot with 'Cof-
fee, Tea or Me?'
*ABC launched two new game
shows during the month of
Decem er and both productions
originate out of New York City
studios. 'The Money Maze',
hosted by Nick Clooney, features
two married couples trying
desperately for big money prizes.