Extras of Early Hollywood: A History of the Crowd, 1913-1945

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Pity the
extras.
Mostly overlooked and forgotten. Especially those in the major Hollywood films 1913 to 1945–right through the dream factory’s golden era. The struggles of extras to unionise were followed by internal struggles as the extras fought for a voice within that union. It is a story about too few jobs for far too many extras, some of whom were lured to Hollywood by what seemed to be rags-to-riches tales of stardom but were likely little more than industry publicity plants. Once lured to the film capital the reality was much different: low pay, little or no work, rip offs from private employment agencies, and sexual harassment of the women, likely very much underreported. In the words of the comic Rodney Dangerfield, extras just didn’t get any respect.