# Magic (1978): Explain this quote **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [January 19, 2024, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-1978-explain-this-quote/996351 "2024-01-19T20:49:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-1978-explain-this-quote/996351/1 "2024-01-19T20:49:25Z")
Copied from IMDB trivia. Background (if you’re not familiar): Burgess Meredith, playing a Swifty Lazaresque super-agent Ben Greene is walking into his office, and as he passes by his employee Sadie, there’s this exchange: Ben Greene: Sadie, what’s the first rule for being an agent? Sadie: Never forget an actor killed Lincoln. Ben Greene: Head of the class! This quote was singled out by Ben Mankiewicz on a recent airing on TCM. I’m just guessing that as an agent, you have to be on your toes for actors who are unhappy for not having any work, but that’s just a guess. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-1978-explain-this-quote/996351/2 "2024-01-19T21:36:16Z")
Or it could be that anybody can make it big, so always be on the lookout for the next client. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-1978-explain-this-quote/996351/3 "2024-01-19T22:25:13Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > I’m just guessing that as an agent, you have to be on your toes for actors who are unhappy for not having any work, but that’s just a guess. I think that’s more or less right. It just a humorous “watch out for actors, they’re dangerous.” ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-1978-explain-this-quote/996351/4 "2024-01-19T22:34:42Z")
I took it be a reference to the eternal hate-hate relationship between agents and performers: An agent meets a singer at a party. _Agent_: Really? You’re a singer. Sing me a song. _Singer:_ You’re an agent. Tell me a lie. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-1978-explain-this-quote/996351/5 "2024-01-19T22:51:40Z")
Yup, it’s just a take on how agents regard their actor clientele. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2024, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-1978-explain-this-quote/996351/6 "2024-01-22T19:06:55Z")
Thanks, everyone. (And it’s some ominous foreshadowing. . . .) ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2024, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-1978-explain-this-quote/996351/7 "2024-01-22T19:52:29Z")
Spencer Tracy is supposed to have said, “Before they get any more actors into politics, they should remember who shot Lincoln .” This was shortly before Tracy’s 1967 death, and was likely a reference to Ronald Reagan’s recently becoming governor of California, and George Murphy’s serving as U.S senator a few years earlier. The “an actor shot Lincoln” bit has legs.