Our Local Elderly One_Time Hollywood Child Actor

I recently returned from a bummer tour bus vacation, mostly along the California coast, a vacation that included a Yosemite in which all the beautiful sites were obliterated from view by forest fire smoke. But one highlight was our tour of Sony's movie studios. They are built over the old MGM studios and parking lot. In the mid-1920s my neighbor Bill Watson was playing in that parking lot with his brothers, when a movie mogul approached them and asked, "Hey kids, do you want to be in pictures?" This invitation launched their child acting careers in movies with legends like Kathryn Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart. The Watson brothers now have their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I will share my experience there with my now very frail elderly friend.

In the former church I pastored, we sponsored a monthly advertised free potluck dinner and movie night. When we showed "The Little Minister (1934) in which Billy played the son of a church-going drunk and was often comforted by Kathryn Hepburn, a huge crowd of visitors showed up to see little Billy in action. As his scenes rolled by, they shouted their demands for a rewind and repeat showing; so we did that for all his scenes. It was awesome and sobering to watch this now frail man in a wheel chair as we watched his rambunctious 10 year old self racing across the screen as if this happened yesterday. Bill lamented the fact that, although Hepburn played a pious Christian woman in the movie, she made it clear that she was in fact an atheist. Bill's behind-the-scenes reports of his interactions with these classic actors was mesmerizing.

But the reason I have posted this thread is to share what our Sony tour guide shared with us about the contracts of leading female actors. She said that many of these contracts limit the actress's appearances to just 70% of the movie scenes! For example, many actresses seem embarrassed by their legs and contract for close-up shots of their legs to go to a double. The same is true of other body parts, depending on the actress. Doubles are also used for many scenes that require a greater demonstration of athleticism or exertion than the actress is willing to expend.