An actor whose first-season television show has just been renewed by the sponsor for a second year suddenly becomes impossible to get along with! This is a television “rule” I’ve come to know well, since I’m a character actor who moves from studio to studio, doing some thirty different TV shows during any given year.
But now I’ve also found the “exception” to this rule. The show: Adventures in Paradise”. The actor: Gardner McKay. I’m not a close friend of Gardner’s, just a casual acquaintance. But actors must be good observers and I’ve worked with Gardner McKay both this year and last, and was a fellow student with him at one time.
In May of 1959, a relatively unknown and distinctly untried Gardner McKay was suddenly thrust into 20th Century Fox’s big, high-budgeted TV offering, James A. Michener’s Adventures in Paradise. This was more than a gigantic opportunity for a young actor. It was a challenging, grueling test.
Gardner’s job was to star in the equivalent of one feature motion picture a week for a full season. As “guests,” he would have co-stars of the first magnitude. He himself was expected to be an all-American athlete, a sailor of obvious ability, an actor of consummate skill, the major love-interest in each story—and a personality who would make a lasting good impression.
The studio was betting millions that he could make it. Production values made this the most expensive of TV series. In September of 1959, Gardner received the biggest publicity build-up ever given an “unknown.” His picture appeared on the cover of Life and a dozen other national magazines. Everyone in the entire United States knew who Gardner McKay was.
In October, 1959, the show hit the air—and the balloon burst. He and the show were severely panned in virtually every publication across the country. It became close to a laughing stock. But the series continued through the season, completing thirty one-hour episodes—with Gardner starred in every one. When summer repeats started in mid-May, critics predicted: “This show won’t be back for another season!”
In July, 1960, Adventures in Paradise started filming for its second season. The first of these episodes ran on ABC-TV in October—and was greeted by excellent reviews. What had happened? Who changed the script? Why did the show return? To get these answers, I talked with Gardner and with every technician on the show.
Gardner says it was the immensity of it all that got to him last year. He worked long, long hours—sometimes seventy a week at the studio. This does not include the study of scripts at home and the mandatory personal appearances. He was in virtually every scene and a great deal of physical effort was required. He was dog-tired all the time, and undoubtedly some of this showed through on the film.
It was a hellish year, he says, and sometimes he was irritable and felt oppressed. It was as if he had a perpetual headache. He found that he could not unwind from the tensions at night. He knew his acting background was meager, and he also knew this was not secret from the production crew. He felt that they had no respect for him and this undermined his confidence in himself.
I talked with several members of the company about this. Here are some of their remarks: Gardner was unsure of himself and this manifested itself in a recalcitrant attitude toward the crew.” …”I never thought he was unsure of himself: he was just overworked and the strain was showing.” …”He’s an independent guy, sure, but he was always conscientious and very thoughtful.”
“As a guy, he was great—but, when it came to acting, it was like pitting a good high-school tennis player against Pancho Gonzales.” …”The job was too big for him at the beginning. He was cracking and we knew it!” ….”We helped him all we could, because we put attitude above performance, any day of the week. He’s the salt of the earth.”
As you can see, the majority of his fellow workers harbored no resentment. They realized the strain he was under and tried to help. But these things are never spoken about openly, so Gardner thought he was waging his battle alone.
The fact is that, although the show was being panned unmercifully by the critics, the viewing audience was eating it up. Personally, Gardner was receiving two or three thousand fan letters a week. True, he’s very handsome and some of the letters were concerned only with this. But the majority of writers said they liked him as a friendly, outgoing person—the kind of fellow they would like their brothers or boyfriends to be.
One of the problems Gardner faced was one of the very assets of the series—the fact that he had the privilege of working with some of filmdom’s greatest, such as Herbert Marshall, Elsa Lanchester, Dan Duryea, Lizabeth Scott, Yvonne DeCarlo. These are renowned names, not only to viewers, but to Gardner himself. He was so much in awe of them that it occasionally caused him to forget his character, even his lines.
He found it difficult to imagine himself playing scenes with such luminaries. This sometimes resulted in Adam Troy—the strong, virile captain of the Schooner “Tiki”—appearing as an immature boy among grown-up men and women. He confesses that this was harmful to him. Yet it might be the every thing which caused his fans to identify with him: He was acting like themselves in a similar situation.
Another problem which confronted the oung Mr. McKay was the formula of movie-making. A universal hex, to all neophyte movie actors, is the frequent necessity of repeating one scene many times. With each “take,” tensions mount, fears increase and apprehensions intensify. This is a difficult aspect to overcome and, in Gardner’s case, maybe a bit more so.
Before Gardner began acting, he had dabbled in art. Quite successfully, too. His paintings sold for decent prices and he was honored for his work in sculpture. Gardner believes (and I quote): “True greatness in art is brought about by hard work and accident.” When he had worked hard on a scene and it came off well, from his standpoint, he saw no need of repetition. Doing a scene over and over made it less real to him and, therefore, less convincing in performance.
Because of the very nature of the show and the time involved, Adventures in Paradise has no regular director. Each week, Gardner met a new man with new ideas and different techniques. He would just about settle down to the habits and demands of one director when he would suddenly face another, often one with opposite methods of approach. He found it difficult to conform and sometimes arguments ensued which helped no one, especially the actor.
As to the scripts themselves, the word “adventure” can have many meanings. There is the one which fits such adjectives as exciting, dangerous, thrilling, hair-raising. This was the producers’ plan. The scripts threw Gardner into heavy situations loaded with intrigue and plot. With the emphasis always on serious drama, there isn’t much room for diversified interpretation. Gardner is a lighthearted, easygoing guy who can play heavy drama when it’s called for. But playing it every day of every week makes for heavy going and tends to subdue the lively character of the very man on whom the series is based.
These were the main stumbling blocks which stood in Gardner’s way during the first few months of filming. And this is how he has been able to overcome them:
As to being in awe of some of the stars with whom he workd, Gardner tells me he finally woke up to the fact that these were people, not really different from everyone else. They were perfectionists who should be respected for their talents—but, once the camera started rolling, they played a character. And the feelings of Adam Troy must be directed toward that character in that particular situation.
It took him a while, but now he plays with the same honesty toward all actors, whether they be stars or bit players. One a few occasions, he has received applause on the set—a reaction from super-critical technicisans which is seldom given anyone—and it has helped build up the confidence every actor needs.
Adjusting to the repetitive nature of movie work, Gardner soon realized he must approach the problem as an actor, not a painter. The latter is the sole contributor to his own work, responsible for all that’s good or bad in his painting. But movie-making is a team effort. He gradually learned that what an actor believes to be a perfect “take” may, for elementary reasons, be very bad. This might or might not be the fault of the actor It might also be caused by a defect in lights, camera, sound, props, wardrobe—individually or collectively.
On one occasion, Gardner watched Herbert Marshall, an actor he avidly admires, do a very difficult scene to perfection—then stood dumbfounded when he heard the director call for another take. Mr. Marshall repeated the scene three times, and Gardner was amazed to find that each successive take was better than the previous one. Similar occurrences have now convinced him that the job is not done well until the director says so. He accepts the problem of repetition as an occupational hazard which must be lived with, rather than fought.
Arguing with the director isn’t conducive to good movie-making. Experience taught Gardner that this was an area over which he had no control. He didn’t hire the directors, but the directors hired were capable, experienced, creative men. When he fought with them, it was time-consuming, nerve-racking, and used up his own energies.
He has learned to give full power to the director, thinking of himself, not as the sculptor, but ass the clay in the sculptor’s hands. He finds that this respect works both ways. Now, when he has a suggestion, it is listened to by the director and, if it contributes to the scene’s success, it is accepted. But the director’s word is final.
This acceptance has made Gardner a more satisfied person, free to enjoy his work within the actor’s confines. His philosophy has now become: “I forget that I am the star of the show and just play the part. This has made me less conscious of the demands placed upon me, and a greater contributor to the whole—which is the story, not the individual personality.” He sincerely feels that the title STAR is obsolete. “In television, there is no longer any room, time or opportunity to indulge in such an illusion.”
However, the producers are very much aware of their star and have discovered ways of capitalizing on Gardner’s engaging personality. They experimented by inserting a light comedy script into the schedule. The word “adventure” now fitted such adjectives as amusing, hilarious, off-beat, fun-filled. Gardner responded as they had hoped and the light script proved to be the best they had made.
Don’t get me wrong. Gardner is not a comedian, and certainly not a comic actor. He simply finds it enjoyable to have a kidding or humorous sidelight to each story. The producers were pleased to have found this out. Now each script has humorous overtones and Gardner’s wry smile is seen more often.
Now that he has overcome his problems, there is a new Gardner McKay not only on the TV screen but on the set. He is friendly and cooperative. He still works long hours and the burden of responsibility is heavy upon his shoulders, but his entire demeanor has changed. Where he once stood aloof, at times last year, he now jumps in to assist the crew when they’re tackling some difficult chore. Just the other day, I saw Gardner and several laborers on the set huffing and puffing as they moved a huge camera platform.
I’ve never helped this way, and I never saw any other actor do it. We’ve always figured that they have their jobs and we have ours. With Gardner, it’s different. He needs to feel that the permanent crew regard him as just another guy. I also think he needs the release from tension a hard physical task affords.
The sound engineer has told me that Gardner created history, as far as he was concerned. This man is tucked away in a truck far from the shooting end of the set. He was new on the show this year, and therefore astonished when Gardner introduced himself on the very first day of shooting—and then called him by name the next day. This technician says this was the first time, in his thirty-one years in the business, that an actor had ever done this. But it’s only one example of Gardner’s kindness and consideration toward all.
“I am happier than I have ever been in my entire life,” says Gardner. He is able to say this because he feels that he is now using himself to the best of his ability. As for the future, he would like to do feature motion pictures. The studio has talked to him about it and has even offered him a script about which he is very enthusiastic.
There’s only one hitch: Lack of time. The successful new Gardner McKay is too busy on the successful second TV season of Adventures in Paradise!
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