Tim Matheson Turned Down Animal House Rather Than Play Anyone But Otter

Tim Matheson told the casting office he would rather not be in Animal House at all than play Greg Marmalard, and he tells Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes on Dropping Names how that stubbornness got him Eric Stratton, the rush chairman, damn glad to meet you. He also explains how John Landis quietly talked Chevy Chase out of the same movie over lunch by pointing him toward Foul Play and Goldie Hawn, and why John Belushi walked away with what may have been the biggest cheque on the picture, around 35,000 dollars. Before any of that there was a childhood on soundstages, Leave It to Beaver, Bonanza, The Virginian, Fred MacMurray turning up one week a month to shoot all his coverage for My Three Sons, and Lucille Ball on Yours, Mine and Ours teaching a kid actor to always rehearse with his own props. Tim also voiced Jonny Quest for Joe Barbera at 15, sat in rooms with Mel Blanc, Don Messick and June Foray, and bought his family their first colour television on a loan he paid off at five do