Ronne Troup - First Flying Nun?

[FM451]

I've read on wikepedia that Actress Ronne Troup was given the role of Sister Bertrille when Sally Field initially turned down the role. Troup actually began filming the pilot in Puerto Rico, and 2 days of filming was competed when Sally Field finally agreed to do the show. Troup was let go, and the pilot reshot after a 2 day shutdown.

I found out that Ronne Troup was a TV Actress with a very long career; I was suprised to find out that prior to shooting the pilot, She had no experience in speaking actor roles. She had been an extra for a few years, in shows such as My Three Sons, and Gidget.

I've always been interested in how She did, and what She looked like in the Nun's costume that Sally Field made famouns. I can't find a single photo/image of Ronne Troup as Sister Bertrille, or one frame of the Troup pilot.

Has anyone ever seen either pictures or video of the first 2 days of shooting? That would be a find!

[biffbronson]

Of course had the series Gidget run longer, Sally would have remained committed to it, and then Ronne likely would have been the one and only Sister Bertrille.

She did get a regular role a few years later. Ronne had appeared on Don Fedderson's Family Affair in Cissy's crowd of friends (ski lodge ep). On the strength of that appearance, she was cast as Polly Williams Douglas as My Three Sons, another Fedderson production, wound down in its final 2 seasons (1970-71 and 1971-72).

As Chip's wife on M3S, she was one of several actresses whose character married a Douglas (along with Meredith MacRae, Tina Cole, Anne Francis, and Beverly Garland -- with Ronne, Tina, and Beverly becoming permanent cast members after the marriages).

[jehobden]

Ronne Troup also appeared occasionally on Emergency, which starred her father and stepmother, Bobby Troup & Julie London.

I last remember seeing her in original programming on Cold Case, but she played a minor role that was not credited until the end of the show.

[FM451]

That Cold Case appearance was just before She retired (no credits since 2005).

Did a Google search on Ronne yesterday, and stumbled on this January 1969 interview She gave to The Pittsburgh Press.

This message board won't let me post the URL yet, if you'd like to read it, in google search, type "Ronnie Splits for Acting", and it's the first item called up.

No mention of her Flying Nun experience, unfortunately. I think She must have a few good stories re the audition, costume fitting, rehearsals, and the 2 day shoot. The idea of a blonde, blue eyed Sister Bertrille is a hoot, and I wish some trace of her contribution leaked out to the internet. Alas, no luck in finding anything.

[comedyfreak]

I would love to see that pilot! It would make an excellent extra.

[OOliver]

Originally Posted by biffbronson

Of course had the series Gidget run longer, Sally would have remained committed to it, and then Ronne likely would have been the one and only Sister Bertrille.

If GIDGET ran longer, there probably would have been no series called 'The Flying Nun'. From what I have read online , ABC was sorry it cancelled 'Gidget' because it was doing well in the ratings at the end, and the audience really loved Field and her 'wholesomeness'. For whatever reason, they could not 'un-cancel' 'Gidget' because (I believe) the other cast members had already signed on to other projects. So they decided to create this series for Field, based on the book 'The Fifteenth Pelican' - having Field play a quirky wholesome character, once again. They bought the rights to this book solely as a project for Field, and to keep her at the network.

The network loved the idea and figured it would be another hit, but Field didn't. They had bought the rights to the book, so they ended up casting Ronne rather than lose their money. When Field changed her mind, all became right in the world.

[PracTz]

In addition to Miss Troup being taller and more 'average' than Miss Field to have been as 'believable' when flying, would anyone have imagined such a cute, vivacious girl having ever wanted to become a nun? Even Sally Field stretched credulity in that department [and, for that matter, so did Julie Andrews].

[FM451]

I see that there have been a few new posts to this thread. When I first started this thread back in 2013, I included some incorrect information re the Flying Nun. There really is scant information on The Flying Nun production before Sally Field agreed to take the part. From reading one of Sally's biographies, I learned that the original pilot was filmed in December 1966 (makes sense, as some of the earliest Sally Field publicity photos for the Flying Nun were dated January 1967).

Looking for more information, I discovered that Ronne Troup had published her Mother's autobiography through Lulu.com, titled "Once I Was a Debutante". I ordered the book, thinking it might include some references to the Flying Nun/Ronne Troup. It actually did include a few paragraphs of information, which appear nowhere else. The book, incidentally, is a fine read in it's own right.

Here is the relevant Flying Nun information:

-Ronne Troup was picked to star in the pilot of the TV series The Flying Nun. She liked the premise of the show, and was eagerly looking forward to doing it.
-Ronne worked "for over a week" shooting the pilot. The pilot was shot entirely in Los Angeles, not Puerto Rico as I thought in 2013.
-Ronne came home "bubbling with enthusiasm" about the show, the producer, director, and the actors. (lived with her Mom at the time).
-When She was finished shooting the pilot, Ronne was told by her agent that she was out of the show, and the part was going to Sally Field.
-Ronne was not upset about losing the role, but was upset by what she felt was the "hypocritical niceness of everyone on the set who knew all the time that She was going to be dumped".
-Some time later, Ronne was called to a meeting with Jackie Cooper, the head of Screen Gems at the time. According to this bio, Cooper told her that
they (Screen Gems) was sorry about what happened, and offered to enroll her in the Columbia Workshop to study acting, paying her $250.00 a week for six months - a total of $6,000.00 in 1967. I later used google to find out how much that was in today's dollars. It came out to almost $43,000.00. Not bad for an actress who had one small roll in "The Trouble with Angels" on her resume! According to the book, Ronne turned the offer down, went back to UCLA to take a teaching credit.
-At UCLA, Ronne met and fell in love with a student named Steve Craig. They planned to get married, but Steve back out at the last minute to marry his high school sweetheart - Sally Field.
-One last bit of trivia. Ronne Troup was one of the many young women who tried out for the part of Gidget. She lost out - to Sally Field - but ended up as a prominent extra in several episodes.

That is the additional information I discovered by reading "Once I Was A Debutante" by Cynthia Hare. From this book, I learned that Ronne Troup was not fired 2-3 days into filming, but finished all her scenes, and was let go after principal photography. Unless Ronne is interviewed re the Flying Nun, this is about the only source we'll have on what happened before Sally signed to play Sister Bertrille. I hope this information will be of interest to this message board.