The Actor Who Held The Record For Most Twilight Zone Appearances
When the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) announced that they were going on strike after the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) failed to offer an adequate deal during contract negotiations, there were many who didn't understand why actors were arguing for better pay.
It might as well be common knowledge now that folks like Dwayne Johnson are paid millions upon millions of dollars per picture, so being a working actor must mean that their bank accounts are all sitting pretty, right? Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. While, yes, there are certainly high-profile celebrity A-listers bringing home the big bucks, those performers are in the vast minority. Even Academy Award-winner Ke Huy Quan lost his health insurance after filming "Everything Everywhere All At Once" because he wasn't getting enough work to meet the SAG minimum requirements.
The reality of the industry is that most working actors are just that — working actors. When you watch a show like "The Last of Us," Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey might be the names we know by heart, but there are actors playing all of those zombies. Sure, we know who all of the kids are on "Stranger Things," but there are plenty of actors needed to play the rest of the inhabitants of Hawkins, Indiana that we'll never get to know. There are career background, character, and supporting actors with hundreds of credits to their name that still live relatively "normal" lives, never having to fear the paparazzi or being ambushed by screaming fans while trying to have lunch in a restaurant.
One such actor is Robert L. McCord, who appeared on "The Twilight Zone" more times than anyone else, save for host Rod Serling.
The heart of the industry
According to the "Twilight Zone" Museum archives, Robert L. McCord made a whopping 67 appearances over the course of the original 156-episode run of the series. That's a little over 40 percent. However, less than five of his appearances were credited on screen, as a majority of his performances went uncredited. Character actor Dick Miller might have the reputation as cinema's greatest "Hey, it's that guy!" performer, but McCord is a legend in the eyes of the "Twilight Zone" fandom, despite the fact he never played a leading role. Sometimes credited as "Bud McCord," his nondescript appearance and timelessness allowed him to play a variety of characters regardless of setting. Whether he was playing a cowboy, milkman, police officer, everyman, or part of the wealthy elite, all it took was a bit of a costume change and McCord would disappear into the role.
One would think that the person who appeared in the most number of "Twilight Zone" episodes would be some big-named celebrity, but that's just not the reality of this industry. Think about a show like "Law & Order: SVU" with over 500 episodes but shot in the same city every time — it would be unsurprising if there are some New York City background actors boasting episode appearances in the triple digits playing roles like "Girl Buying Bagel" or "Juror #4." These performers are vital to the industry, which is why studios are trying to replace them with digital replicas so they don't have to properly compensate them. Removing background actors also means removing craft services required to feed them, costumers to clothe them, hair and makeup artists to style them, and casting directors to find them.
"Twilight Zone" nightmare stories are better as episode plots, not the reality of the entertainment industry. I'm sure career background actors like Robert L. McCord would agree.