From Mark Bosselman, I have this question about Red Skelton…
Thanks for the nice story about Red. He seemed like a performer who enjoyed his life. However, and this may seem like a big however, he didn't like to credit or thank his writers for his material. As a writer yourself, what did you make of that and were you aware of this?
No, Red reportedly did not acknowledge his writers much…and it's said he almost never spoke to them. His writing staff had a pool. Every day, each of them would put in a buck or two and the next time Red said anything to any of them besides the head writer, that writer would get all the money in the pool. Sometimes, it was a lot of bucks.
And there's also the story that an interviewer once asked Red how he managed to be so funny on stage and Skelton replied, "I just go out there and God tells me what to do." At the read-through of the script for his next show, Red was reportedly handled a pile of blank paper with a note from his writers that said, "Dear Red — Please have God fill in the pages."
Things like what he allegedly said are quite insulting to the men who played such a large role in his show's success…so no, I don't like that. Then again, thanks to industry custom (and Writers Guild rules) his writers did get the usual credits on the show and nice salaries. And I doubt anyone whose opinion mattered thought Red was ad-libbing that hour every week.
I am (of course) for writers being credited for their work but there are exceptions. When I wrote for stand-up comedians, they didn't stop in the middle of their routines and say, "By the way, that last joke was written by Mark Evanier." I ghosted gags for newspaper strips and didn't expect credit. I could probably think of a dozen other examples. There are times when it is not inappropriate.
The problem is not giving credit where it is appropriate and another problem is denial and/or lying. I've gotten offers where someone wanted me to write something and wanted me to sign something where I agreed to never claim credit and to back him up if he said he wrote it. I suppose I can imagine an offer so lucrative that I might agree to that but I've never gotten one. I do know writers who've felt forced, due to economic necessity into deals of the sort that didn't pay so well.
The thing is that credit is not just a matter of bragging rights. In most corners of the writing world, credits lead to continued employment and higher compensation. There are people in the comic book world who, I feel, did not receive proper deals and payments because while some fans may have understood what they contributed, the folks with hiring and deal-making powers did not. Or could get away with pretending they did not.
I don't think that applied to Skelton's writers. They got the usual credits. They were nominated for and even won Emmys and other awards. And like I said, it was no secret in the industry that Red was not the easiest guy to work for.
Thinking back, I only recall meeting one member of Skelton's writing staff — a gent named Martin A. Ragaway who was with him for eight or nine years. He's the one who told me about the "pool." He had many other stories about the star being a problem but at times, dealing with those problems is part of the job description…as anyone who ever watched The Dick Van Dyke Show can attest.
It was a lot of steady employment and it wasn't so overwhelming that Mr. Ragaway couldn't write for other shows on the side. He was a very good writer who could easily have gone elsewhere if he felt mistreated…and he chose not to. What does that tell you?
