Behind the Scenes:
Actor George Petrie

This "snapshot" was written by Audrey in her book, Love, Alice.

   Actor George Petrie, a vital member of Jackie's most informal repertory company of Old Reliables, could play any role the script called for with a voice, manner, and style he invented for the occasion.  You call that acting, folks.  Jackie liked him a lot and was confident with him in any scene.


Love Alice -- 
My Life as a Honeymooner
 
is available online for $14.95 plus shipping and handling.  Click here.

   The only stage direction Jackie ever gave him, George said was:
   "If you want to stay in the picture, stay close to me."
   The rest of the cast remembered a television director's adage.  IT was the command to Cameras One, Two, and Three.  It was, "Follow the money."
    And we know who "The Money" was, don't we?
    George had some lively ideas about Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton and their relationship to the audience.
    Ralph Kramden was a loser.  Ed Norton was runner-up, George thought.  More people identify with losers than with winners because there's a lot more on the non-winning side.  People laughed at Ralph and Ed, but when plot lines turned emotional, sentimental, the audience responded to the mood.  They weren't impatient for the boys to turn into cartoons again.  They awarded sympathy, gave compassion.  Because deep down they had found parts of themselves in the characters.
   You said it George....