Does anyone know why the many, many actors who played secondary characters in The Honeymooners were never given screen credits? I am currently watching the Classic 39 Episodes in a boxed set of DVDs, and it is is amazing to me that these actors are never credited, either in the opening titles or in the end credits. Was this normal practice at the time, or what??
shareIt actually was common practice at the time. And also covered up the fact that many of the supporting actors played multiple roles in different episodes.
However, I'm surprised that in the day of the internet, no one has yet come up with a definitive list.
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I Love Lucy does use a voiceover to give credit to actors in major roles, The Honeymooners never did.
Again, to anyone with the time and savvy to do the research, I believe a comprehensive list of actor credits for all speaking roles would be possible. There must be records as to who was hired to play what role.
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I can't believe that Actors Equity didn't have something to say about actors appearing uncredited on shows like this. Or whatever the equivalent union was in the US. From today's perspective this seems outrageous!
shareWatch any MGM film of the period and you'll notice that they don't list the cast at the end, so unless an actor got credit in the opening titles, hey were uncredited. SIngin in the Rain, for example, only credits about 6 actors.
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At that time it wasn't a big union, I think.
shareAt the time credits weren't given to every bit player. And some of these players played multiple roles on the show, like George Petrie and Frank Marth.
shareIt's not true that The Honeymooners didn't give credit, at least not when it ran in syndication. Like one poster said, credit was given in the end credits in a voiceover. I know, because I actually remember hearing it when watching The Honeymooners as a kid. This is how I got to know of the actor, George Petrie, because he was always on the show as a bit player and would frequently get mentioned.
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Bless your heart, atomicgirl. I remember them doing it too. I Love Lucy did it a lot.
I'm guessing that the opening and closing we are familiar with was only used in Syndication? Does anyone know what the network ones were like?
shareThe original opening shows a bus and then a Buick because Buick was the sponsor. It shows the names of only the four main actors, like we see today but not with the moon and everything.
shareAs I recall from watching the series on first release, supporting players were credited by a VOICE OVER while the production credits rolled. I guess the voice over was eliminated for whatever reason by later edited versions. But I'm annoyed watching these later versions that they don't include the supporting players in some fashion.
shareI wonder if this could have been a time- and budget-saving technique. This way they only needed to film one set of opening and closing credits which could be reused for every episode.
sharejonathan: I think you've nailed it.
shareI think you're right. Credits didn't run very long back then. On I Love Lucy they never listed guest stars, but they did have an announcer who said their names during the ending credits.
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