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"Wrapping
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Wrangler"
Howdy Folks,
I know it has been awhile since you have heard from me, but I bet you a bucket of buzzards that we are going to have a grand old time chatting with each other.
Since this is my first column, I thought I’d tell you about how I hog-tied the part of "Wrangler Jane." In the future, I hope to be answering questions that you might like to ask me about myself or F Troop. But let me begin at the beginning.
When I was just a little squirt, I went to see a movie that Warner Bros. made called Calamity Jane starring Doris Day. I just fell in love with that movie and Doris Day as "Calamity Jane." It was a musical, and my mom bought me the record with all the songs on it. I used to sing’em all in front of my mirror, especially "Whip Crack Away." I went to see this movie so many times that I knew by heart all the songs and most of the lines too!
When I was 15, I auditioned at Warner Bros. for F Troop. Guess what? Instead of giving me a scene to read from the pilot, they gave me a scene from the movie Calamity Jane. Well shucks, I already knew those lines from when I was a little tike. Sooooooo, I was not in the least bit nervous or anything. I took that script and went to town.
I did the scene where Calamity had gone to Dodge City to collect Lilly Langtree and bring her back to deadwood. When I finished the scene, the producer took me by the hand and led me right up to the head office to meet William T. Orr - the head of Warner Bros. television and the son-in-law of Jack Warner himself! Wow, you could have knocked me over with a feather! I thought to myself, "Well, I guess I showed ‘em," and I did too. There was only one teeny weeny little problem-when the producer said to me, "You’re 18, right?" I blurted right out, "Yes sir, I am!" Oops, I’d really done it now. After my audition, I had to tell my mom what I had done. We put out heads together to try and figure out what I should do. Well, we figured it like this: I sure would be nice to get a screen test, and maybe I wouldn’t get the part anyway. So we kept our mouths shut about my teeny weeny lie and proceeded ahead, come what may.
I’ll never forget that first screen test at Warner Bros. Studio. Sometimes in an actor’s life there is one special moment when it is just plum magic. This day was one of ‘em. Pure magic from the start to the finish. My call for makeup was 6 a.m. I entered the makeup building with eyes as big as saucers. It was really happening to me. I was plenty nervous, because in front of me were a dozen or so gals who also had their cap set on nailing down this part. One of those gals was Mollie Bee from the Tennessee Ernie Ford Show. After the initial shock wore off, I began to settle down and just let that ol’ magic begin to happen. Larry Storch was sitting there dressed up like an Indian, making funny jokes and the like. I liked him immediately.
I checked in and was sent up to wardrobe to get into costume. I always loved this department the best. I guess the reason for this is because there is nothing like it in the whole world. So much movie history. All the costumes that were ever worn in a Warner Bros. movie were hanging somewhere in that massive, musty, old building. And I’ve got to tell you that the sweetest, most wonderful people in the world worked in the wardrobe and makeup department.
Well, they dressed me up like Wrangler Jane, and from that moment on I was Wrangler Jane Angelica Thrift, no doubt in my mind. We actors call that the "Magic If". As I walked back over to the makeup department, I started to feel it from the bottom of my toes to the top of my head-that this was where I belonged and this is where I was going to stay. I was home there at Warner Bros. For three years I had studied camera techniques, and the day had arrived when I would make it work. I knew in my heart that the only way to make it work was to have rock solid concentration. I spent the rest of the day slipping off by myself to do deep breathing and to stage whisper my lines. I did this off and on until shortly before midnight, when at last, my name was called.
It was very dark outside as I walked between the giant sound stages. I finally came to sound stage number 4. I entered and took a deep breath. It was cavernous and pitch black except for the set which was lit. The scene I was to do was with Ken Berry in his office, or rather, Captain Parmenter’s office. The director shook my hand and introduced me to Ken who had been testing with all the eleven girls who went before me. The director told me to enter the room from the door. I got ready and he cried, "Action!" I walked into the room, put my hands on my hips, and looked Ken right in his eyes and said, "Mornin’ Wilton". I can’t remember anything after that but I know it felt real good. When the screen test was over, the director yelled, "Cut"! There was complete silence, and then from out of the darkness came the sound of applause. And the director ran over to me and swung me around in his arms. I couldn’t believe what was happening. They liked me! Heck, they loved me! It had been a long day-more than 12 hours, but it sure ended great. And that was how I landed the part of "Wrangler Jane" in F Troop which was to become part of America’s television heritage.
Next time, I’ll tell you all about the making of the F Troop pilot. Until then, hugs and kisses to all you F Troop fans.
Reprinted with permission from our friends at:
"Wildest Westerns
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