Why wasn't Nedra Volz (Adelaide) made a full-time cast member

[TMC]

If this has already been brought up, then I apologize. I find it odd that she was always credited as a special guest star when her predecessor (Charlotte Rae/Mrs. Garrett) and successor (Mary Jo Catlett/Pearl) were credited in the openings.

[Mace Dolex]

I guess they figured Nedra was old and would kick the bucket soon that it wasn't worth adding her credit in the intro.

[rusty spike]

She was a hoot.

It's a shame that she wasn't added to the opening credits.

[veggie-tari-jenn]

Originally Posted by rusty spike

She was a hoot.

It's a shame that she wasn't added to the opening credits.

totally

[Wildchats]

The actress lived until the early 2000s, so she could have easily been added to the intro. Yes, she looked very old at the time she was on the show. She was in her 70s or so at that time.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by Wildchats

The actress lived until the early 2000s, so she could have easily been added to the intro. Yes, she looked very old at the time she was on the show. She was in her 70s or so at that time.

And Zara Cully was 86 when she started the Jeffersons so she defintely could have been added

[Bonniegirl]

She was a funny lady. I liked her in everything she played on. Recently she was just on One day at a time!




Yeah in "Orville & Emily" ! They all( Ann, the girls, the husbands, Alex and Schneider) did a floor show at the old folks home and Nedra guest starred!

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by Bonniegirl

She was a funny lady. I liked her in everything she played on. Recently she was just on One day at a time!

She was on a season 8 episode and I missed her?

[billybatts]

Originally Posted by Wildchats

The actress lived until the early 2000s, so she could have easily been added to the intro. Yes, she looked very old at the time she was on the show. She was in her 70s or so at that time.

She was born in 1908 so she was basically always playing the Old lady.

I remember her in Moving Violations....lol

[marlins3]

She was also doing guest spots on the Dukes of Hazzard during the same time frame.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by TMC

If this has already been brought up, then I apologize. I find it odd that she was always credited as a special guest star when her predecessor (Charlotte Rae/Mrs. Garrett) and successor (Mary Jo Catlett/Pearl) were credited in the openings.

I've wondered about this, too. And I think the original reason is that at the time she was hired, NBC was hedging its bets about Charlotte Rae. Rae had made a deal that if The Facts of Life didn't get renewed after its first season, she was guaranteed to come back to Diff'rent Strokes.

Nedra Volz's part on the show, at least at first, was likely seen as temporary. NBC didn't have a lot of faith that TFOL would be successful. Nedra didn't appear until halfway through season two of DS, and only made four appearances that season. Then she made five appearances in the 1980-1981 season.

Since she was only being written into four or five episodes per season at that time, there was no way they were going to put her in the opening credits. That situation changed in the 1981-1982 season, when Nedra appeared in 11 episodes. At that point, they most certainly should have put Adelaide in the opening credits. They did not, and that was her last season on the show as a semi-regular. Nedra was doing tons of other shows, and didn't need DS.

[jehobden]

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

And Zara Cully was 86 when she started the Jeffersons so she definitely could have been added

Actually Zara Cully was 86 when she died in 1978, so she was a few years younger when she first appeared on "All in the Family", leading into her regular role on "The Jeffersons". Judith Lowry was also 86 when she died, having started on "Phyllis" as a semi-regular a year earlier when she was 85. After having these elderly women pass away, networks would use younger women like Estelle Getty, who was in her early 50s when she started playing Sophia on "The Golden Girls", made up to look older so that they would last through a series.

I have a feeling that Nedra Volz would have been moved up to "Diff'rent Strokes" opening credits if she had stayed with the series for maybe another year. I remember she was a regular on a CBS sitcom called "Filthy Rich" late summer 1982, so she may have chosen to leave DS by then. It took a full season on DS for Mary Jo Catlett to move up to the opening credits. She joined the show fall 1982 but did not appear in the opening credits until fall 1983, always billed as a guest star before then.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by jehobden

Actually Zara Cully was 86 when she died in 1978, so she was a few years younger when she first appeared on "All in the Family", leading into her regular role on "The Jeffersons". Judith Lowry was also 86 when she died, having started on "Phyllis" as a semi-regular a year earlier when she was 85. After having these elderly women pass away, networks would use younger women like Estelle Getty, who was in her early 50s when she started playing Sophia on "The Golden Girls", made up to look older so that they would last through a series.

I think Estelle was a rare exception. I don't recall any other actresses being made up to look older. 227 cast Helen Martin as Pearl, and she was with the series from pilot to finale (ages 76-81).

Night Court did go much younger with Marsha Warfield after her two elderly predecessors passed away, but of course they didn't "age" her, they just went with a much younger character.

[EccentricGenius]

I think the reason why Nedra "Adelaide" Volz wasn't made a full-time cast member on "Strokes" (during seasons two, three, and four) was because she already had a recurring role as Miss Emma Tisdale on the hit CBS series "The Dukes Of Hazzard." I think she was afraid of spreading herself too thin.