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INSIDE THE ANIMAL HOUSE
By Martin Klammer
Sometimes when I ask students to hand in their overdue writing assignments, I’m tempted to mimic Donald Sutherland playing the college professor in the 1978 movie Animal House. “I’m not joking,” he begs. “This is my job!”
I know the line well not because I’ve seen the movie a dozen times, but because I was in the room when he said it.
More than 30 years ago I was an English major at the University of Oregon in Eugene, one of 2,000 student hopefuls trying out as extras in the film and hoping our Hollywood good looks would catch the eye of talent scouts. We were herded into the main hall of the U of O student union and marched past a tribunal of casting personnel seated at a table, pointing us left or right like so many sheep and goats. I made it with about 200 other sheep, and I wasted no time asking why I was chosen.
“You’re tall and naïve looking,” the casting director told me. “That’s perfect for upperclassmen in the ‘good’ house.”
When I arrived that first day on the set — an actual fraternity with real frat boys coming and going as the lights and cameras were moved into place-- my assigned “upperclassman” role changed at the mere whim of director John Landis. He was handing out beanies to four or five extras he thought would make good freshman pledges.
“Here, put this on,” he said to me, holding out a little blue and yellow cap.
“I’m not a pledge, sir,” I said. “I’m an upperclassman.”
“You’re a pledge now,” he said. I took the beanie and put it on. “You look great!” He slapped me on the shoulder, smiling.
For the first couple of days I helped fill in the background of the pretentious Omega House party where Douglas Niedermeyer introduces Pinto and Flounder to his frat brothers. I appear for a millisecond in the background when the door opens -- “There! There I am!” – and a few seconds later at the party. I’m chatting with “fraternity brothers” and munching on what I think are hors de’ouvres. Actually, the food was plastic, a fact I discovered only after mashing an especially rigid spear of broccoli.
At the end of the second day Landis told us four beanie-wearing pledges to strip to our underwear for an initiation scene. I was mortified. No one told me this was part of the job. I’d never been seen by girls in my underwear -- not even my mom! I looked down at my tighty-whities. They were frayed at the waistband and, here I confess, a tad discolored. I considered telling Landis I couldn’t do it.
But then I thought, “Hey, what if this movie becomes famous? I could become famous -- well, sort of.”
I walked over to the assistant director.
“Uh. I’d like to do this, but I don’t have the right kind of shorts.”
“Good gawd.” He gave me an exasperated look then walked over to the president of the actual fraternity where we were filming and commanded him to produce a pair of clean shorts. Within minutes I was sporting a pristine pair of briefs, courtesy of Mr. Fraternity President or some poor novitiate he coerced into forfeiting his undies. My students now ask me if I appeared in Animal House in my underwear, and I tell them honestly, “No, not in my underwear.”
Fans of the film know this as the “Sir, yes sir, may I have another” scene. A young Kevin Bacon plays an initiate bent over in his briefs getting paddled by black-hooded brothers and asking for more. Four of us extras, two on each side, kneel motionless at attention, hands at our sides, eyes straight ahead.
During the shooting of this scene a lighting problem delayed us. While waiting for that to get fixed, I donned a winter jacket and sat protectively behind an empty couch.
Like out of some wacky dream, just at that moment civil rights leader Julian Bond walked in and sat on the couch in front of me. He was giving a lecture that night and apparently had been invited to the set by John Belushi after having guest-hosted Saturday Night Live (April 9, 1977) a few weeks earlier.
Not one to waste an educational opportunity, I introduced myself to Mr. Bond from behind the couch and began to engage him in a thoughtful political discussion, visible only from the waist up. We talked about apartheid and I remember asking him if he planned to run for Congress. He seemed to enjoy our chat, or maybe he didn’t have a choice. When Landis called us back to our places, I jumped up and peeled off the jacket, revealing my almost naked skinny white torso to a visibly shocked Julian Bond.
I worked 10 days as an extra, earning about $250. I learned to drink coffee as a way to keep myself awake between the time we arrived on the set (7 a.m.) and the time when the stars arrived, several hours later. I made a few friends and learned how much of filmmaking is just standing around. I also learned to juggle from the actor Jamie Widdoes, the “president” of Delta House.
For my final stint I spent four days in Oregon’s Cottage Grove, about 20 miles south of Eugene. Cottage Grove’s Main Street was where Animal House’ famous parade scene was filmed.
I’m one of the parade marshals in full military dress, though I’ve never been able to find myself in this part of the film. During a break from the shooting several of us “marshals” walked into a bar where World War II vets kept buying us drinks even though we told them we weren’t really soldiers.
Several of the parade days were rainy, and during one storm about 300 of us extras found shelter in the Catholic church basement. Most of the extras were senior citizens, and soon a bingo game started up and I was designated as caller. I asked the seniors, “Do you want to play for fun or for money?” “Money! Money!” the chant rose up. For that little gig keeping the masses happy I got to eat lunch in the actors’ line, a sumptuous spread of catered gourmet foods far superior to the boxed lunches they fed us extras.
My notoriety didn’t end with the movie. In its review of the movie Playboy included a still photo of the underwear scene. Yes, Dolly Parton’s on the (October 1978) cover, but I’m on the inside. I’d like to think I’m the only college professor in the U.S. who’s appeared semi-nude in Playboy. But then again, I don’t really know.
Note: Minor editing by Taxi Off Duty, Martin Klammer is a faculty member of a private college in the U.S. Midwest. He was an extra in the movie “Animal House” (July 28, 1978) and tried out to be an extra in the movie “Field of Dreams” (April 1, 1979).
Photos: Scene from 1978 movie “Animal House.” Beanie-wearing actor Martin Klammer is on the far right. Animal House tavern, 100 3rd St. N, La Crosse, La Crosse County, Wisconsin, on Sept. 4, 2023.
