Brandon Cruz - Oct. 1, 1998

mysterygirl: Brandon, welcome to Talk City! Some of us grew up with you, what was it like to do a TV Series like "The Courtship of Eddie's Father?" Are there any stories you can share with us?
It was an interesting experience because I was so young. I got to meet a lot of incredible people and work with some incredible actors. There was also a lot of travel involved, so it was a great experience!

syber_sue: Describe a day on the set of "The Courtship of Eddie's Father."
I lived an hour north of where the show was filmed, so it was a long drive in. We would usually go into make-up first and then get my wardrobe. I'd wake up at 5 a.m. and get there at 6:30 a.m. I had to go to school for 3 hours everyday and I could shoot for 4 hours. Since I was in almost every scene, it was quite intense. I would go on to do this for 4 years.

Sunnystar5: How did you get on TV? I want to get on TV. Did you know someone? Did you study acting?
I never took an acting lesson. I asked my parents to get me on TV because I enjoyed imitating everyone I saw on TV, especially Johnny Crawford who was on "The Rifleman." I wanted to be him. My parents took me to an agency, which turned out to be a rip-off agency who took a few pictures and their money. It turned out that a real agent saw the pictures by a fluke, contacted my family, and then they drove out to LA so that I could audition for "Eddie's Father." I walked into a room filled with kids. When it was my turn I read and got the part! It was total luck and if anyone wants to get into television now... good luck! You really have to dedicate your life to it! I was a 6 yr old and that was 30 yrs ago. Things are different now. I couldn't read very well, I was only 6. They decided to just have me walk to the end of the room, turn around and say "Daddy I love you." I delivered the line and Bill and Jimmy looked at each other and turned around and went to my grandparents. They wanted to meet the people who were responsible for this kid...and that's how I got the part.

jennyc: Just wanted to tell you how much I loved "Courtship". Your character was so adorable, and you did a great job playing him! I loved Bill Bixby, too. I heard that you two were close. Seems like you were, or was that just good acting?
Actually we stayed very close until he passed away. It started out as a professional acting job and soon turned into quite a friendship and stayed that way forever.

larry_m: I read in your passWorld that Bill Bixby wouldn't let his son watch "Hulk" because he thought it would be too scary for him. Do you ever let your son watch South Park?
NO! Absolutely not, he's only 3. Matt and Trey, the creators, are the first to admit that this show isn't for children. He plays with the toys and knows all the characters, but he doesn't know what they do on TV.

Mony_mony: Which little South Park kid do you identify with most?
I'd like to say I could identify with Chef, but he's not a kid. If I had to pick one of the kids I'd say Cartman. I think Cartman's a punk rocker, he always talks about hating hippies. That was an old punk rock cliché we used to use.

zoopster: How is Mrs. Cartman dealing with the Bill Clinton affair? Must be hard on her to know that he's been a cheatin' on her!
Well zoopster, I don't know if Mrs. Cartman has even dealt with that yet. We're under a heavy delivery schedule and the scripts aren't written as far ahead as we would like them to be.

MadDog76: Is Nick Cage really going to do an "Eddie" movie?
Yes he is! My wife is best friends with his wife Patricia Arquette. At a barbecue a few months ago he told me he was going to play Bill's part in the movie. He asked me to sit down with him and talk about what kind of person Bill is. As soon as Nicholas returns from New York, we'll sit down and talk about this. I've always been a fan of his and I think he'll do a great job!

scot|ab: Was Cartman's father really John Elway?
Well that was a flashback episode and that's for the viewer to figure out. It could have been real, it could have been fake. I like to think that it was.

BcRd5: BLACK FLAG ROCKS! You hear the "Annihilate" CD yet?
Oh yes! I'm a huge Black Flag fan! Actually my old band, Dr. Know, used to open for Black Flag a lot. Dr. Know has now reformed, so I hope Black Flag does to!

Bixby_fan: Whatever happened to Miyoshi Umeki?
Miyoshi is retired and living in Hawaii and hopefully enjoying life with Hawaiian taste. I wish I was there too! I wish I was there surfing!

Clooney_clone: You're an editor? Do you coach famous actors when they do parts on South Park? Have you met George Clooney? Or any other celebrities?
I have met George Clooney. He doesn't need any coaching. When Henry Winkler was there to do a voice, I said hello. I've known him for years. Others that do voices do them outside of our office here. We have a few celebrities now and then. It's fun when Jenny McCarthy comes!

guest-redrobin: Hi there, Brandon. As a kid, what TV shows did you watch and did they include some of Bill Bixby's other TV series?
I was a big "My Favorite Martian" Fan. That was the only way I knew who Bill was. I also watched "The Rifleman" and "Batman." I lived at the beach, so I actually didn't watch a lot of TV. I was always out playing in the water. But I did like to watch those shows.

scot|ab: Who is your favorite Simpsons character?
Bart! I like Bart and Barney. Barney's a good old drunk.

guest-trav-southpark: What exactly do you do "behind the scenes" at South Park?
As the assistant editor, I scan in the story boards to a server and then load them into the editors' machine and load in the audio so that they can think it up and then assist in the downloading of the animated art and try to keep track of the 600 plus things in the show as they're rearranged and times that by three which is the usual amount. It's fun! It's busy, but it's fun!

tissa86: How old are you?
I'm 36. Tissa, are you 86?

Shelby: Hi Brandon! I'm so embarrassed to say this, but I had such a crush on you! I wrote a letter to you once but you probably don't remember! Anyway, I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought you were adorable. Did this ever go to your head? How did you deal with it?
No, it didn't go to my head. My friends wouldn't let it. I was so young. I was 6 when the show started and 10 when it ended. Having a girlfriend wasn't on my mind at that point. The fan response was difficult to deal with at times. I now enjoy it much more! I just thought I was a normal little kid. But now I know it was an abnormal kind of job.

hapines: my daughter is two years old and has been on a soap now since she was three months old...am I doing the right thing by letting her act now?
I feel it's a bit young because she can't make the decision to do it on her own. As long as hapines isn't doing it so she can be supported by the daughter and does have a life of her own. It can be ok, but I feel it's a bit young. Statistics show that it can be detrimental.

Hankyman: What did you think about Anissa Jones's (Buffy in "Family Affair") suicide? You seem pretty together, what's your secret?
First let me clarify that Anissa overdosed accidentally. I don't believe it was suicide. My secret is: it's no secret. I had my bouts with drugs and alcohol and am now sober. I just deal with everything as it comes. I look at the positive side of things. I'm doing well now and enjoying everything.

Lorelei: I just have to say, Brandon, that I loved "The Courtship of Eddie's Father." They don't make TV like they used to! I think we all can learn from the warmth and closeness of Eddie & his dad. Thanks for some wonderful TV memories!
Well thank you Lorelei for being such a great fan! This is why I do pubic appearances and chats. I get so much back from the fans that I didn't realize the impact that the show had when I was young. Now that I realize it I appreciate it. It still amazes me how everyone enjoys it.

Kenny_schmenny: I remember you in "The Courtship of Eddie's Father." I related because my parents were divorced, and I, too, wanted them to be happy and matched up. Do you ever hear this from people?
I hear it all the time. Actually my parents divorced during the filming, so in an odd way I identified with myself.

lulu: How was your life AFTER Eddie? The transition from stardom to "normaldom" (whatever that is!) must've been difficult.
Yes, lulu it was! I found refuge in surfing and being very anonymous in my home town. Although everyone knew I had been in the show, no one cared. I lived in the same town for over 20 years. I found rock to be an excellent escape from being Eddie. No one walked up and said, "Hey aren't you Eddie?" when I had a blue Mohawk.

scot|ab: What do you guys have in mind for South Park in the next few seasons?
We have some amazing things coming up. Chef's past will be revealed very soon. All I can say is he was very well connected to the rock and roll world. And... Mr. Hat is not dead. I can't go any further than that. I need to keep my job.

guest-trav-southpark: What is your favorite episode of South Park?
That would have to be "Clubhouse" which was just on a couple of weeks ago. I'm biased because my band had a song in the scene where Kenny is killed in what they called a mosh pit. My song was playing while they were moshing. Other than that I thought that "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boatride" was the funniest.

scot|ab: Do you like Bill Clinton?
No comment. I'm not political. Not as much as Monica.

guest-trav-southpark: What do you think of the Internet's fan support of South Park?
I think it has helped the show tremendously. It allows a lot of freedom for people to get the episodes and find out what's happened. Matt and Trey, the creators, are very open when it comes to the so called piracy of episodes as long as no one is trying to make big money off of it. They're just happy they're a success. Actually one of the marks of success is when people try to copy you.

Mojo_man: So do you work with Matt and Trey? Are they cool or what? Can you get them to chat too?
I see them everyday. I'm good friends with them. I don't know if I can get them to chat or not. They are very busy. One more thing about Matt and Trey is that if they were on chat, I don't know how censored this is, but it would be at least R-rated. They'd probably get kicked out of their own chat!

guest-eric: Do you know any South Park secrets?
None that I can tell. Truthfully the shows are written so quickly, that just before we animate them and go to edit that we don't have time to find out an awful lot.

guest-eric: What is it like working on such a popular show like South Park?
As an editor it's a difficult task to make it look as crude as it is. The imagery is done on very fancy computers and we have to make it look like it's cardboard, or construction paper. It's not an easy show to make look so crude. It takes a lot of work to make something look so crappie. We do it on purpose. Other projects I'm working on include my band Dr. Know. We are playing live shows all over the country within the next few months. We'll be releasing new albums by early next summer. I don't know right off hand which cities we'll be in. If anyone wants info on where we'll be appearing email me at bcruz@lacasabonita.com.

maddux-1: When did you first get interested in voicing a cartoon?
I don't do a voice. I would like to, but they haven't asked me yet.

mysterygirl: How did you get involved with the punk rock scene?
As I was growing up my mother who is also a beautician, poet, songwriter met the Frank Zappa group, The Mothers of Invention, and everyone who hung out with them including Captain Beefheart. My mother's a musician not a beautician. I heard a lot of different types of music at an early age and actually heard of bands like The New York Dolls, Iggy Pop, and MC 5. When punk rock came around, bands like the Ramones and the Damned were right up my alley. I liked the rawness of it and the speed and the power of it. It was perfect for surfing and skateboarding to. I felt like it was something I could really get into. I came down to LA and started going to shows in '77 and '78 . I was very anonymous and could pretty much be free to express myself through my music. I started to perform and it just snowballed from there. I was living in LA and went to as many concerts as I could, and then I disappeared for a little bit and went into the underground.

guest-trav-southpark: Can you give us a LITTLE hint about the status of Mr. Hat? Where is he at?! What is he doing?
Actually at this very moment, Mr. Hat is laying right in front of me on a story board.

jayebo: Do you think your show was, in a sense, before its time in depth and subject matter?
Oh, definitely. We dealt with single parenting in a much different way than previous shows had. We dealt with gay issues, interracial dating and at the time we had a communist girlfriend for Bill. We were quite a forward show and dealt with a lot of tension between the censors to get away with what we did. Those guys drank a lot on that show. In the '60s they all drank on the shows. "Bewitched" was the most alcoholic household.

moxylady: Did you learn anything about relationships by being on "Eddie's Father" that helped you with your own family relationships?
It was scripted material so it wasn't real in the sense that it was true. It was all made up stuff. I did feel a sense of family and while making the show I developed personal relationships with people that told me how to conduct myself professionally and I've retained those lessons, to as much of a degree as possible. I still had adolescence and depending on who you would ask... when it ended. I'm 36 and doing punk rock, so the Peter Pan syndrome does exist.

hapines: My daughter has enough money now at two years old to go to college twice in her life, do you think child actors are far overpaid compared to when you were a young star?
When I was on "Eddie's Father" we didn't know about residuals or renegotiation of contract. No one had any idea that it would become what it did. When I see the amount of money child actors are paid today, I say good for them. At least someone is getting it. Hopefully it's all put in the bank for the child to use at a later time. I've started a trust fund for my son for when he's 30. I know that if I had gotten my money when I turned 30 instead of 21, I would have invested much wiser.
It saddens me that in the state of California, the Coogan law that is supposed to protect the earnings of child actors is laughable. A parent is legally entitled to one hundred percent of a child's earnings until they are 18. It sickens me that parents don't make the right decisions the majority of the time and realize that the child has worked for the money, and not them. In my working with a Minor Consideration we are recommending to the Screen Actors Guild and the producers that the parent who is on the set with the child receives a payment as well. They do have to give up an awful lot. In many cases it may be one parent giving up a job to stay with the child. It takes an awful lot to have a working child in television today. If we gave the parents something for their time, maybe we wouldn't have things like the Gary Coleman case and so forth.

Passfan: I've seen your passWorld Brandon and enjoyed the link to the "Eddie's Father" site. Didn't realize that that series came from a 1963 movie, and that Ron Howard played Eddie. Did you (do you) know Ron Howard?
Yeah, I know Ron. I asked to go to the set of "Happy Days" to meet him. I was ushered in and Henry Winkler introduced us. I had done a movie with Henry. Ron and I had talked about playing the same role. I imagine we'll be talking again soon with Nicholas (Cage) doing the movie.

guest-trav-southpark: The fans on the Internet LOVED Fat Abbott ... will we be seeing anymore of him? ... Might I suggest a "Special" i.e., Terrance and Phillip special?
I think Fat Abbott was a one time experience. Terrance will be coming up probably in the new South Park feature. I'd like to thank Wicky 2.

hapines: Are you good friends now with any of the child stars during your time?
Yes, I keep in touch with Butch Patrick from "The Munsters," Danny Bonaduce from the "Partridge Family" and Erin Murphy from "Bewitched." Those are my especially close friends. We all stick together and do personal appearances together.

ddb_10_03_83 : Hi. I just got Comedy Central recently, (Today come to think of it) well, anyhow, what do you have planned for Kenny and his deaths, also what do you and the other South Park crew members think of the WWF Wrestling basically promoting South Park through their "Oddities"?
Promotion is beautiful! We highly encourage it!

guest-trav-southpark: Do Matt and Trey do anything to their voices to produce the South Park voices? Do they speed them up or change the pitch?
Most of the voices they just do straight out. Trey does Mr. Garrison perfectly. Some others are altered.

guest-trav-southpark: Will "The Spirit of Christmas" or "Frosty" ever be release to fans on home video instead of them having to buy from bootleggers?
I don't know. I don't work in the marketing department so I can't answer that.

taekwondoguy: How long does it take to make ONE episode?
If we're lucky we get six weeks. Right now, it's about one every nine days.

cccmyst: Brandon, it's been a pleasure to have you with us tonight! Are there any final thoughts you'd like to leave us with?
I'd like to thank you for asking me to do this chat. I'd especially like to thank the fans of Eddie's Father and South Park. I wish I had more time to answer all the questions. My email address is on this chat. If I don't get flooded, I'll answer as much as I can!