EXPERIENCES OF A HOLLYWOOD EXTRA

CHAPTER 14 - THE FIFTH CORNER

Kim Delaney

The most fun, by far, that I had during my 2-1/2 years working as an extra was the two days I spent on "The Fifth Corner". The fact that the show was cancelled before airing the episode I was on was disappointing for me.

The scenes were shot at the old Green Hotel in Pasadena. Most of the male extras were to wear tuxedos and be guests at a swank party. Since I don't have a tuxedo, I was to wear a dark suit and be one of the journalists present. But when they started shooting, they decided to have the male journalists also be dressed in tuxedos, and I was selected along with another extra to be security personnel. I think they saw some humor in that casting as I am a hair under 5'- 9" and the other guy was at least 6'-4". Mutt and Jeff do live.

An actor named Norman was the head of security for a character played by James Coburn, who was supposedly the head of a major crime syndicate. The other extra and I, along with Norman, were to accompany Coburn's character wherever he went. We were equipped with handguns in holsters and radio walkie-talkies. I thought that James Coburn was the star of the show, but as it turns out, he wasn't. He played a major part, but the leads were Alex MacArthur and Kim Delaney. Alex MacArthur had previously starred in a television series, but I didn't remember him. I had never heard of Kim Delaney, but my wife told me that she had been on "All my Children" and I later saw her in a couple of movies. She has since become a regular on "NYPD Blue".

The first scene was James Coburn's character, accompanied by his girl friend, his entourage, and the three of us security people. All were actors with speaking roles except for the two of us security people. We began the first scene at the top of a stair case overlooking the ballroom. As we awaited the scene, some of the male actors were admiring and commenting on the cleavage of some of the female extras downstairs dressed in evening gowns. The scene was shot with the entourage descending the stairs toward the ballroom. I was closest to the camera and the security people were clearing a way through reporters at the bottom of the stairs, pushing microphones, cameras and such out of the way.

Later, the scene continued with the entourage gathered around a table containing hors d'oeuvres and drinks. This scene was interrupted for lunch and when we returned, I noticed James Coburn was smoking a small cigarillo. He had been smoking a big stogie earlier. I said to him "you were smoking a big stogie this morning". A minute later his cigarillo was replaced by a stogie.

The next scene was when the entourage departed the table toward the hallway and encountered a reporter, played by Kim Delaney. She was there to confront James Coburn's character with some hostile accusations. As security, we were to escort her off the premises. I was told to grab one arm and Norman was told to grab the other arm and to begin escorting her toward the door. But Norman put his right arm around her waist and grabbed her left arm with his left hand. So I put my left arm around her waist and grabbed her right arm with my right hand. We shot that scene several times. One time Norman let go and Kim and I almost ran into the camera, which was moving backwards. She veered to the left and I veered to the right. We were told to move a little slower and the camera operator was told to move a little faster. Each take of the scene, Kim would twist and turn and try to fight us off. Each time she got a little more aggressive. Finally she twisted into such a position that my left hand had a handful of her right breast. She was screaming "get your hands off me" as we exited through the door. I thought, oh boy, I'm in trouble now. I thought she was angry at me. But once out the door, she relaxed and smiled. It was all acting. If I had had more experience, I would have realized that. That was the take they printed and kept.

In between takes of that scene, Kim Delaney expressed concern that all the twisting and turning that she was doing was causing her skirt to ride up her legs and hips too high. Also, during a break, my ignorance came through in an embarrassing fashion. Norman had gone somewhere so Alex MacArthur took his place with Kim and me as they were resetting the lighting. I asked him if he was Norman's stand-in and he said no. Imagine my embarrassment when I learned he was the star of the show.

The other scene shot that day was when an assassin attempted to kill James Coburn's character, on the same stairwell we had descended earlier. The entourage was going back up the stairs when the shooting occurred. Norman's character is killed, and there is a scramble up the stairs with the other security people trying to shield the others from harm. It's interesting how they film a shooting, with the gun shots going off at one time, and various angles shot at different times. One of the shots was of Norman's character falling and spurting "blood" all over. The scramble scene took place after the shooting with Norman lying on the stairs and the rest of us stepping over him. The girl friend of James Coburn's character was blind, and as we were going up the stairs, she dropped her cane and I picked it up. All ad lib, but after a couple of rehearsals, it only took one take. Everybody loved it and they saw no need to re-shoot it.

I never found out Norman's last name, but he was a friendly guy, and apparently worked out quite a bit at the gym. Norman, who had been a regular on the show, quipped after the scene in which his character was killed "Does this mean I can't work on this show any more?". I saw him once after "The Fifth Corner". He was at the Forum in Inglewood as a security guard escorting one of the actors on "Beverly Hills 90210" to and from the set. I told him I had worked with him on "The Fifth Corner" and asked why he was doing security work. He said actors can't always get work, and this pays the bills.

At the end of the first day, the other security extra said we should ask for a "bump" due to our special action. I've been pretty hesitant to do this, but many extras will ask for more if they think there's any chance. We asked, and I was pleasantly surprised when they gave us each an extra 100 dollars. Also I was asked to return the next day to continue the scene with Kim Delaney outdoors.

The next day was much different than the first day. Most of the extras did not return because only outdoor scenes were being shot. I arrived early and had breakfast. When the time came to shoot the scene escorting Kim Delaney's character from the door of the hotel to the waiting limousine, Norman and I got to the set and found makeup applying finishing touches to Kim. As we got into position to continue escorting her out, Kim asked me where my radio was. As it turns out, during the previous day's filming of that scene, I had had my radio in my right hand and pressing against her arm. I should have put it in my pocket once I realized I would need both hands to handle her, but I didn't, and once we started filming I couldn't change. The next day, however, I decided to stick the radio in my pocket, if for no other reason it would be more comfortable for both Kim and me. But she said that everything had to be the same for continuity.

The director was a woman, who was apparently from England based on her accent. She was the only director in my 2-1/2 years to call me by my name, Ryal. She directed the scene where we deposited Kim Delaney's character into the limousine. As we were doing this, Norman and I turned from the car and were confronted by Alex MacArthur's character, with all three of us putting our hands on our jackets under which were our handguns. We briefly confronted each other and then walked away, ending the scene. Between takes, Alex looked at me and said "You look like a security guy - did you do this in real life?". I replied "no", although I had worked as a computer security analyst.

Since no filming was being done inside the hotel that day, the crew decided during a break to view a tape of an early episode of "The Fifth Corner". I watched for a while and a scene came up where Alex MacArthur and Kim Delaney were in a jacuzzi. Alex was wearing only dark speedos and Kim was wearing a white bra and panties, which were wet and completely transparent, providing the equivalent of full frontal nudity. A couple of the makeup or wardrobe gals were questioning why it's always women depicted like that, but not men. I was thinking, there was no way that scene would be shown on network TV, but I was wrong. When that episode aired on NBC, that scene was shown just as I had seen it.

After working on "The Fifth Corner", I watched every episode that was aired and was looking forward to the episode on which I had worked. I enjoyed the show, which was a drama with a lot of adventure, intrigue, and mystery. One week I was all set to watch the next episode when TV news pre-empted network programming due to the LA riots. Once network programming returned, "The Fifth Corner" was never again seen. I even called NBC to inquire what had happened to the show. Nobody could answer, except one person said that it might be that it was considered too violent for network TV. But I've seen other shows equally or more violent. I guess my disappointment in this is that I was looking forward to a reminder of the most fun I've had working as an extra and will never get that reminder.