Ghostbusters 30th Anniversary / Autographs / Cast And Crew Trivia

30 years ago, on June 8, 1984, Ghostbusters premiered in movie theaters across the United States. To make the occasion, we here at Spook Central have a whole Calendar of Events/Updates planned for the entire month (subject to change, of course). This article makes the first of these special 30th anniversary updates.

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OFFICIAL GHOSTBUSTERS 30TH ANNIVERSARY LOGO
The "30th Anniversary" logo you see at the top of this article is the official logo created by Sony to celebrate the occasion. I have two copies of it available for you to download.
• White Background (2790x1900)
• Black Background (3300x2550) (provided by Salazar Orlando)

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MY GHOSTBUSTERS AUTOGRAPHS
One of the things I used to collect was autographs. In 2000 and 2001, I had a renewed interest in my autograph collecting hobby. I wrote to anybody and everybody that I had an interest in in the hope of adding a signed photo of them to my collection. Naturally, this included a lot of Ghostbusters cast and crew members. I recently sold out the majority of my collection - probably 1,000 photos and items - but still kept a small amount that are the most personal to me. I just scanned/re-scanned in all of the Ghostbusters autographs in my "new" collection, along with all of my non-Ghostbusters autographs. Except for a few script covers that I didn't bother to rescan, all of the new scans are nice and large, and completely watermark-free.

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CAST AND CREW TRIVIA
One of the side benefits to being so passionate about Ghostbusters and autograph collecting (in 2000 and 2001) is that a lot of folks were kind enough to send me copies (and sometimes originals) of episode scripts, art materials, production photos, and other assorted goodies that I have yet to share with all of you on this here website. A lot of the cast and crew wrote me notes and letters answering my questions and providing some insider information about their part in our beloved franchise. On my autographs page is not only scans of signed photos and script cover pages, but also scans of the notes and letters from these various cast and crew members. Below are text transcriptions of the tidbits of knowledge learned from these notes and letters.

Brooks Wachtel (Writer of EGB "The Luck Of The Irish" and "Back In The Saddle - Part 2")
May 9, 2001 - "Ghostbusters was a joy for me to work on. The story editor, Dean Stefan, is one of my favorites. His sense of humor and professionalism helped make it a real labor of love. Frank Squillace, the director, is also an old pal and - very unusually - I was able to keep informed (and give some input) on character design and storyboards. Not that an artist like Frank needs much input. Another unusual aspect of this production is that the writers were invited to the voice-over recording session (and allowed to give comments). All these things have the effect of producing some very happy memories."

Clyde Kusatsu (Guest voice in EGB "Eyes Of A Dragon" and "Fallout")
Circa 2001 - "In 'Extreme Ghostbusters' - 'Eyes Of A Dragon' episode I voiced two parts. The father/uncle (if I remember) and the dragon or whomever the main bad guy morphed from the uncle/father."

Joe Alaskey (Guest voice in EGB "Slimer's Sacrifice", "Bird of Prey", and "Deadliners")
Circa 2001 - "I did a few 'monster' voices for 'Ex' Ghostbusters'. Most had no names as I recall."

Joe Landon (Writer of RGB "Three Men And An Egon")
May 31, 2001 - "You probably realize that Chuck Menville and his partner, Len Janson were responsible for the contents of 'The Real Ghostbusters' series. Chuck died many years ago, and even though we didn't know each other well, I considered him my friend. He was a very modest person, who was extremely generous in the way he worked with other people. The script of the show credited to me was largely rewritten, I presume by Chuck, so any credit should rightfully be given to him and Len."

Joseph Kuhr (Writer of EGB "Eyes Of A Dragon")
July 10, 2001 - "I'm glad you enjoyed the 'Eyes of a Dragon' episode of Extreme Ghostbuslers. I did quite a bit of research into Chinese languages, culture, and mythology for that episode and I think the entire cast and crew did a bang-up job. It's one of my favorites."

Jules Dennis (Writer of RGB "20,000 Leagues Under the Street", "Attack of the B-Movie Monsters", "The Treasure of Sierra Tamale", "Guess What's Coming to Dinner", and "Mean Green Teen Machine")
Circa 2001 - "Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters was the first cartoon I worked on and certainly one of my favorites. (I loved writing dialogue for Egon!) All the episodes I did were co-written with Richard Mueller - there was some misunderstanding between Richard and DIC that resulted in his name being omitted. They were supposed to correct that, but I guess they never did. Richard and I also wrote a Married with Children episode together, then spoofed the Bundy family in the Ghostbusters episode 'Guess What's Coming to Dinner?'"

Mark Amato (Writer of EGB "The Ghostmakers")
May 19, 2001 - "Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of the original script to send you. Believe it or not, I wrote both of these episodes from the comfort of my home -- and emailed the finished scripts into the producer. I did manage to go to the recording session, which was quite a trip! To hear the words read aloud by the performers. All you can imagine is their celluloid counterparts."

Marty Isenberg (Writer of EGB "True Face Of A Monster")
July 1, 2002 - "It's funny, I was going through old script files recently and thinking how Extreme Ghostbusters was the greatest show that nobody ever saw. It's nice to know there are still some fans out there. [...] It may also interest you to know (if you don't know already) that Bob Skir and I served as story editors on the series, overseeing eleven additional episodes ('Sonic Youth', 'Ghost-Apocalyptic Future', 'Slimer's Sacrifice', 'Seeds of Destruction', 'In Your Dreams', 'The Jersey Devil Made Me Do It', 'Rage', 'Witchy Women', 'Eyes of a Dragon', 'Temporary Insanity', and 'Glutton for Punishment')."

Michael P. Moran (Frank the building superintendent in GB2)
April 26, 2001 - "I wanted to respond to you much sooner and since you are particularly interested in Ghostbusters I wanted to include some photographic material the film had sent me at the end of production. I had unfortunately lost track of where this material was, but I have most recently found it. (See enclosed photographs) I don't know if you have the studio photo of the gang, but here's a copy. Also this is the official cast and crew photo of 'Ghostbusters II' I'm not in this picture, as I was not in California at the end of filming, but did my part in New York early in the production. These are laser copies of the originals sent to me."

Pat Fraley (Guest voice in EGB "The Unseen" and "Back In The Saddle - Part 2", voice of Jake Kong Jr. in Filmation's GB)
Circa 2001 - Q: I know that you were in the Extreme Ghostbusters episodes "The Unseen" and "Back In The Saddle - Part 2," though I can't figure out which characters you provided the voices for. If you can tell me, I'd be most appreciative.
A: Paul, I was covering 'Ray', usually done by Frank Welker, who was unavailable for the two sessions. Regards, P.F."

Rino Romano (Eduardo Rivera in EGB)
November 20, 2000 - "So nice to hear from you - I've seen your name online many times - the GHOSTBUSTERS website rocks! That show was, quite frankly, my favorite. Eduardo was indeed a goof - but a very lovable one with his heart in the right place. I only wish they'd 've done more episodes - then we'd finally see what was to become of him & the elusive Kylie. (I have my suspicions as to the outcome...)"

While most of the cast and crew sent me short letters or notes, three actors sent me very detailed multi-page letters. These have been archived on the autographs page as PDFs. Text transcriptions are below. Harrison Ray (Male Terror Dog in GB1 [uncredited])
Were it not for the Internet Movie Database, I never would have known Harrison had any part in Ghostbusters. So when I wrote to him, I asked him about his experience on the film. He was kind enough to provide a very detailed recollection.

[large excerpt from typed letter dated December 17, 2001]

Back in the fall of 1983 (I think it was), my former wife, "Terri Hardin", and myself were working in a non acting capacity on a film you may have heard of called "DUNE". We were both early in our respective careers. Her's being professional puppetry (she later worked on the t.v. series "DINOSAURS" as the baby.) We were on the costume crew for Dune at the Don Post studios in North Hollywood, Ca. Anyway, a lady friend who was a graphic computer artist that we knew, came in to the shop one day, and started excitingly telling us about this new film she had just been hired to do some work on. The more she talked, the more I got excited! The cast alone, as you know, was phenomenal! So, I asked if she knew if they had cast the whole project? She didn't know, but promised to find out.

A few days later she came back in and walked over to my work station. (We were making the water reclamation suits for the desert planet in the Dune film.) She told me I had to be at the Boss films studio in Marina Del Rey, on the following Saturday morning at 8:00 am for an audition! Well, my first reaction of course, was on the order of.... "Oh, right sure! What ever you say....yuk, yuk.) Well, she was dead serious. I don't know how she did it to this day, but she talked them into giving an unknown actor a shot at it.

I walked in that Saturday morning, and they had one of what turned out to be the two Gargoyles that you see break out of their plaster. The suit was mounted on a platform made of wood and stood about four feet off the floor. I was asked to put on a headset, climb up from underneath through a slit in the belly of this four and a half inch thick rubber suit, and take hold of the controls that operated it's head, mouth, and eyes. They then gave me instructions as to what they wanted me to convey with it's movements. I did as they asked, and was offered the part on the spot. Mine was the the one with the longer horns. My ex-wife later got the part of the other "TERROR DOG".

Some of my best memories are working with Danny Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and of course my favorite, Sigourney Weaver. We filmed the entire rooftop, apartment, and party scene on a sound stage at Warner Bros. studios in Burbank. The refrigerator, Tavern on the Green, and Central Park scenes were shot in a warehouse in Marina Del Rey. This included the "Marshmallow Man" sequences.

The reason she and I were not given screen credit, was that the producers decided to only spend money on credits for the ghosts whose faces were seen, or whose voices were heard. Bummer, but it was still a wonderful experience that I will always remember with great fondness. I too, am a huge "GHOSTBUSTERS!" fan.

Joe Schmieg (Police Sargeant in GB1)
Joe had a very small part in the first film, but he hand-wrote a six-page letter with details on how he got the part and what it was like on the set the day he filmed his scene. For more on Joe, read the Elmira NY's Star-Gazette January 31, 2009 article about him.

[large excerpt from hand-written letter dated February 18, 2001]
[NOTE: Joe wrote a lot in shorthand, so I added in a few small words - like "the" - and fixed some punctuation so it reads properly.]

Actually, Paul, my speaking part in GHOSTBUSTERS was my only claim to fame as far as $$ goes. I still get residuals from that movie plus some monies from WISE GUYS. Here's some history, or what happened to me concerning "GB" and how I got the sergeants part. You can put this on your SPOOK CENTRAL internet.

My agent sent me up to JOY TODD (casting agent who was hiring day players - Mayor, Librarian, me, etc.). They were looking for "blue collar" types to play bums (Bum I & Bum II) who were in two key scenes in the "original" GHOSTBUSTERS script. (Do you have the original script?) So, after auditioning for BUMS I & II, Joy Todd pulled me aside and said she was sending me to the director (Ivan Reitman) to read for the part. But "don't emote so much"!! I tend to use my face too much. I thought emoting was good. That's how much I know about acting. Anyways when I got to the audition (earlier I had picked up my script - whole script) and started looking for the bums. There was a few dozen people at the Columbia Pictures office on W. 57th Street, but I didn't see any bums. Then I spotted a guy who looked the part. It was Bruce McVittie, I would learn. He was understudy to Al Pacino on Broadway in AMERICAN BUFFALO. Bruce later starred in a cop series on Channel 5 in late 80's or early 90's. Also, he was in the EMMY winning "Homicide" episode where VINCENT D'ONOFRIO gets pushed by Bruce onto the subway and while he's cut in half - he slowly dies.

So, I go over and introduce myself as another Bum and we start going over the scene. He's SOOOO GOOD!! Does a junkie bum, an alky bum, a nutty bum, etc. I was floored and dumbfounded. How could I compete with talent like that!!! So, I wasn't too confident when they called me in for the audition. And they did, but they teamed me up with the old guy from Pepperidge Farms commercials, and I could hear the people in room giggle. But big deal. McVitties got this part sewed up. Much to my surprise, my agent called a couple days later and said I got the part of one of the BUMS!!* I was so elated I told all my friends & relatives about my good fortune. Then my agent called a couple weeks later saying I should called Columbia Pictures. They said they had given the Bum parts to Aykroyd & Murray, but they needed someone to play the police sergeant in two days on Oct. 10, 1983. So I went to the wardrobe place in Chelsea, I think, got fitted for my uniform, and showed up for my scene at 9 AM at the Van Damm Street firehouse (near Franklin St. on IRJ #1). Around the corner I was ensconced in the Makeup trailer until 6 PM or so when I did my scene.

* Let me go back to what these scenes entailed: After Louis is chased out of his building by the Terror Dog, the scene shifts to two bums debating the world situation as Louis flies by with the dog at his heels. They (bums) give their perspective on what they'd just seen. One says, "Looks like a fighting spaniel - you don't wanna mess with those." Then in the very last scene of the movie, after the MARSHMALLOW behemoth is rendered toasted, the bums stumbled upon the scene after the Ghostbusters and crowds leave, and comment on this phenomenon. One bum tastes the mallow and says, "tastes like toasted marshmallow to me." The other bum opines, "Maybe there's a huge cup of hot chocolate (syrup) around."

So, I'm in the trailer and the makeup guy says to me, "People think I'm crazy doing this job, but look at all the beautiful women I get to work on." Something to that effect. Also with me is another extra cop, Joe Grillo, who is a real cop. He actually went to L.A. to do more indoor scenes with G.B. Also, I believe he became a technical advisor to some TV detective or cop show. So, I'm in there trying to memorize my scene over and over again. Meanwhile, Sigourney Weaver drops by. She's not shooting that day, but she wants to see what the makeup guy can do. She's gorgeous!! Almost 6 feet tall in a one piece silverish/blue jumpsuit. She has no makeup on!!! She emphatically says to the guy, "I only like natural skin products on my face." The makeup guy reassures her he won't use much. He dabs her face very minimally and puts his fingers thru her hair (what he had on them I don't know) & voila!! She looked like a million bucks!! Her hair all mussed. She looked feral!! While I was in the trailer, they were outside shooting the scene for the Ghostbusters TV commercial, I believe. Meantime, Rick Moranis stops by, his hair all goofy like in the movie. They chat. Sigourney asks him if he's gonna buy that house in Malibu and he says, "Aww I don't know Sigourney". Then she mentions, "Are you coming to my Halloween party?" And here's me. To her I could be a real cop and I'm mentally telepathing her to "INVITE ME Please!!!" Needless to say I wasn't invited.

Later Aykroyd & Murray drop by briefly, as does William Atherton. Atherton's kinda nervous because they were gonna ad lib a scene. Then Annie Potts gets made up. She tells the makeup guy that nobody has yet to cover a blemish on her cheek successfully (from birthing a baby). But he does a great job. Bill Murray drops in as the makeup guy's working on Annie. He's standing behind her in his trenchcoat looking into the mirror as they talk. She mentions how his kid is etc. and he replies. Then he asks how her son is and what's his name. She says "Clay." Murray just deadpans at the mirror and Annie says, "No his last name isn't Potts." "Hey Annie," Murray says, "I didn't say a word." I actually asked Bill, "I was supposed to be one of the bums in this movie." And he got a bit frazzled. Probably thought I was a real cop moonlighting as an actor. He couldn't come up with an answer.

Well, by the time it was time for my scene around 6 PM, it had gotten quite chilly outside. So, I go inside the station house, and there's Harold Ramis, who co-wrote the movie with Aykroyd. Ivan Reitman, the director, asks me to do my lines. I go very slowly, never having done them out loud before. "We picked up this guy..." Ivan cuts me off and says, "Joe, this cop's a matter of fact N.Y. guy. Step it up" or something like that, while pounding his fist into his other hand.

Well, we start blocking the scene. The cameraman wants to see me lifting Louis out of the paddy wagon. Mind you, Rick's in a straightjacket and has a parka wrapped around him. An actor playing a cop is in the van with him. So, when Rick stands up, I grab him below his knees, the cop extra grabs his parka, and Rick falls right onto the concrete street like a sack of potatoes!!! He starts convulsing , and stupid me, the thought goes thru my head that "there goes my career!!" It was surreal!! They get him back into the van and Rick wasn't pissed at all. In fact, he was gracious. Some actors probably would have had us fired. But he said, "That's nothing. The scene I did the other day when I had to jump a prostitute was tougher..." He's a class act.

So, as I'm doing the scene (we did about 4 takes - not bad), I would "stumble" over one sentence in the middle of my spiel. "I tell you there's something strange about him." It just wasn't working. Ramis was a bit peeved, after all he wrote it. I couldn't get my whole speech done by the time I walked Ramis & Potts to the paddy wagon. And when Reitman cut out that line, it worked perfectly. So, I figured it all was my fault when they'd say cut. We actors are very insecure, at least I was. It was my FIRST speaking part!!! But once the mike wasn't on right, then a fire engine rang by, etc. Also, that night they gave a birthday cake to Ivan. I guess he turned 40? Anyhow, Paul, that's my take on my part in "Ghostbusters".

That movie, I believe, grossed 284 million in 1984. Biggest grossing film that year. I went to see it one midday in June and saw a set of High School kids in the audience. I thought they had school!! A couple of kids were dressed up in Ghostbusters paraphernalia. It was strange. I think this movie was the forerunner of overall merchandising, too. The song, the t-shirts, toy figures. That video with Ray Parker Jr.'s a classic!!

Well, Paul, that's it. Hope people enjoy my take on my part. Mind you, it's been 18 years since I did that scene. I believe we were at the early stage of filming because in JAN-FEB '84 they were shooting on Central Park West for the street scene of the Marshmallow Man and the ending.

Pat Musick (Janine Melnitz in EGB)
In addition to a signed photo and a copy of her demo CD (which you can listen to here), Pat graciously penned a four-page hand-written letter detailing the behind-the-scenes goings-on on Extreme Ghostbusters. Pat had specifically asked me to only share excerpts from the letter, and not the whole thing. One of the reasons that it's taken me over 10 years to get the letter on the site is because I don't know how to excerpt portions from it. Pat writes in a very complete manner, much like myself, and to get the full story, you need to read her words in their entirety. Besides, I feel very uncomfortable editing someone else's words, as I don't like to censor anyone but myself (and sometimes not even then). Pat, if you're reading this, I hope that you're okay with the amount of the letter that I'm reprinting below. I don't want to do anything to upset you or ruin my chances of being your son-in-law...wait, did I just type my inner-most thoughts? Disregard that last part. Give my best wishes to Mae.

[large excerpt from hand-written letter dated February 26th, 2001]

To give you a little info that you might not already have on "Extreme G.B.'s", we did all our recording sessions at night. This is very unusual, but it best suited everyones busy daytime schedules. We would meet and be served dinner at around 5:30 p.m., so we could spend social time. It probably drew us closer together than most casts. This also served to enable us to meet and chat with guest cast members that came through. I recall in particular the late Eddie Albert and his son, Linda Blair, Tony Plana, & Roger Rees to name a few. On camera actors are most often pleasantly surprised at how much fun voice acting can be, and exhausted by the energy quotient needed to record just one script.

I remember the night they brought in the opening of the show to play for us. We were so jazzed with the music and POV's, very different from what was out there then. They also insisted that we keep the characters very real, not over the top or cartoony. You probably already know that when we are booked for a session, they can ask us to do as many as 3 voices in a single script, so lots of episodes have us doing other characters as well. I believe I recurred as a newscaster, assorted villains, and walkthroughs of different origins as well. No doubt you've reviewed the resumes of Jason, Tara, Rino, Alphonso, Billy, and "Mo" (Maurice LaMarche), as you have mine and know how talented they are. Billy West, original "Doug" & "red M&M", and Mo "the Brain" are especially hilarious to work with, but everyone in voice-over is funny & facile. They are also supportive, and while competitive, not cutthroat like on-camera tends to be.

It was therefore frustrating and mystifying that they gave "Ex G.B.'s" that early morning time slot when kids 7 and older are already in school. With its 7Y rating it was never intended for nursery schoolers & toddlers. We were all convinced that if we'd gotten an after school, or even early evening slot, the show might have continued. As it was, it only found an audience on weekends, although some kids used to tape it and watch it when they got home.

In any event it was a blast to work on, just like "Duckman" and "The Tick", another one of my very favorites -- the more offbeat, the better the experience.