A Couple of Questions, Please

[Patti Feinberg]

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend.

Okay, first question...does anyone know approximately how old Jonathan Frid was during orig. run?

Next, what's the big deal with Alexandra Moltke?

(With the credits, why does it always finish with the big title/and Alexandra Moltke as Victoria?)

Was she famous during the series? I would've thought J. Frid would get more, as he had some stage work to his name....

Thanks,

Patti

[scout75]

Patti:

I don't pretend to be an expert all things DS, but Frid was 43 when he started on the series in the Spring of '67.

Moltke? Well, maybe she had a good agent. Actually, Joan Bennett is the "star" of the series and Moltke was what would be called the lead ingenue, I suppose--that could explain it. Or it might because she was so much of the focus in the first year.

Whatever the explanation--without consulting a schedule, I'd say Moltke's last appearance will be sometime in early August...

Actually, despite becoming a documentary filmmaker after her time on the show, Moltke would be much more famous (or infamous) when Claus von Bulow was on trial in the early 80s.

But that, my dear, is a whole 'nother story...

Hope this helps...

[A.I.Collins]

Hi Patti!....I once heard something about how Alexandra Moltke was a fairly new actress around the time DS begin its run.Having her name the last one in the credits was kind of an introduction for her.She was like an up and coming star.

Adra

[Bj]

Perhaps her daddy being a Danish count and diplomat had something to do with it?  NAAAH!  She must've slept with the producer  

[VictoriaWintersRox]

Hmm on the Moltke thing, it's probably like someone said. It's like how they credit 'new' people (or at least new to television/movies) as 'and introducing...', but instead they did 'and ALEXANDRA MOLTKE as Victoria Winters' at the very end. AM was a major part of the early episodes...she was in around 3/4 of the first 100 episodes and appeared in more then half of the episodes from #1-627 from when she was on the show. Later on I believe J. Frid got 'starring' credits along with Joan Bennett. I don't think that they ever 'stripped' anyone of their ranking on the show...ie taking Joan Bennett and 'demoting her' to the regular crediting or doing that to AM. Her last episode airs in late August I think.

[Gerard]

Alexandra Moltke was a member of royalty, and an actual inheritress of the Danish crown (quite a few times removed).  Her family was well known in Europe; a passenger ocean liner, the "S.S. Moltke" was named after them.

Gerard

[Miles]

If youre making a soap opera in the format of a gothic novel, I guess it makes sense to give your gothic heroine a little place in the sun on the credits.  Seems to me that the show's producers couldnt get over their inertia, similar to starting every show with "My name is Victoria Winters," after it was clear she wasn't the main character (I kinda miss that intro, though ).  I guess it just stuck, and, as previously stated, it would be quite a blow to strip an actor of their "official" position in the credits.  I'm guessing they don't give either of Moltke's replacements the same treatment in the credits but I havn't seen the episodes, anyone care to enlighten us newer members?

[MikeS]

If youre making a soap opera in the format of a gothic novel, I guess it makes sense to give your gothic heroine a little place in the sun on the credits.  Seems to me that the show's producers couldnt get over their inertia, similar to starting every show with "My name is Victoria Winters," after it was clear she wasn't the main character (I kinda miss that intro, though ).  I guess it just stuck, and, as previously stated, it would be quite a blow to strip an actor of their "official" position in the credits.  I'm guessing they don't give either of Moltke's replacements the same treatment in the credits but I havn't seen the episodes, anyone care to enlighten us newer members?

Neither of Moltke's replacements, Betsy Durkin and Carolyn Groves, receive special billing in the credits.

[Accomplice_To_Cass]

It could be because she was a new star and maybe they wanted to credit her last as an introduction to her stardom. I think in some plays and stuff they do that in the playbills, I have a playbill from a broadway show and one of the main stars is credited in the end with big letters, after a bunch of other supporting stars are credited in smaller letters...I think it just might be something that goes on a lot.

[Dr. Eric Lang]

Just to add to what others have written - the credits in most cases are in the order of when the actor was hired onto the show. In other words, Joan Bennett was there from day 1 and given top billing, so even when Jonathan Frid became the real star, her name still appeared before his (when they were both in the same episode) because she had been there first.

[Nancy]

When an actor is on a soap, their billing is dictated by whether or not they are a day player, a contract player, etc.  Alexander Moltke would have gotten special billing in the beginning simply because it was being told initially from her viewpoint - arriving at Collinsport to take a job with this rich family.  

When Joan Bennett was asked to be on the show, you can bet that her contract stipulated billing as is the case with most established stars when they appear in any medium.  Sometimes even the size lettering of the billing is stipulated.  The wording can also be stipulated in the contract.  Joan Bennett was the best known of the DS cast at the beginning and naturally she would receive top billing.  She was a draw afterall.

Then you have Jonathan Frid who was signed on for one cycle only (13 weeks) and he got regular contract pay and billing for the time.  When he signed on for more episodes, naturally as his appearances would surpass that of others in the cast, he would receive top billing.  The storyline on the show nearly always centered on Barnabas so there was no any back and forth about what character was on the most during the week (except for vacations, etc.)   The only time Frid was not on most of the time was when he was on vacation or touring to promote the show.

Joan Bennett's contract I'm sure called for her to be billed as she was, and to accomodate the fact another actor had become the draw and satisfy the agent they came up with "Also starring Jonathan Frid" when Joan Bennett was on in the same episode.  Agents care very much about billing protocol as it means status and money when promoting their client for other projects.

My two cents.

Nancy

[scout75]

...the credits in most cases are in the order of when the actor was hired onto the show...Joan Bennett was there from day 1 and given top billing, so even when Jonathan Frid became the real star, her name still appeared before his...because she had been there first.

Actually, Joan Bennett got top billing because she was the most well known actor on the show at its inception--having been in movies as far back as 1915.

While Frid certainly became the star of the show, Joan Bennett was, at one time, a full fledged movie star.