2nd time working as an extra - this time on Highway to Heaven
Hi everyone,
A short time after my "run-in" with Cybil Shepard on Moonlighting (An earlier post), I was booked as an extra on the TV Show "Highway to Heaven" starring Michael Landon & Victor French. When I arrived to the set I remember that I was starving and I was hoping they would have something to eat in the morning. They had two tables set up, one had a sign on it that read "SAG Members ONLY!" (SAG - Screen Actors Guild) and on that table was every imaginable item of food...lol. Then they had another table that was for Non-union background actors (which I was at the time) and it literally had water & crackers on it! I decided to take a cup of coffee and a donut off of the union table (surely they couldn't get mad at that!) Well, no sooner had I taken a bite out of my donut, a PA(Production Assistant) came up to me and said "Can you read?" I was so dumb at the time and had just moved from New York City where I had done some stage work, so when I heard him say can I read, I thought he meant "can you read for a part on the show". I instantly put my donut & coffee down on the table and told him "Yeah, I can read!" and then he pointed to the sign on the table that read SAG Members ONLY! and asked me what that meant. I told him I had already taken a bite out of the donut, but asked him should I still put it back? Neither one of us noticed, but Michael Landon was standing behind us and heard the whole conversation. Michael Landon yelled out that he wanted "Quiet on the set!". There were a few construction guys banging a wall together and he waited for them to stop. Then he said he was making an announcement as he tore the "SAG Only" sign off the table and threw it in the trash and said "From now on, whatever food is in this building is for whatever people are in this building!" and he walked off. I proceeded to pick up my donut and coffee again and just looked at the PA who just walked away from me...lol. Thank you Michael Landon for being such a decent guy! I'll never forget it. Michael Landon was the shows Actor, Director, Executive Producer, Writer, etc. and for him to take the time to help a poor extra get a meal I thought it was incredible. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! - Joe Fournier - July 24, 2016