# Mary Tyler Moore fans: who was the blonde guy in the newsroom? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [April 19, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-fans-who-was-the-blonde-guy-in-the-newsroom/493641 "2009-04-19T18:03:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-fans-who-was-the-blonde-guy-in-the-newsroom/493641/21 "2022-03-09T16:40:16Z")
Jeff was the black guy? I watched him the other day and noticed he really looked like he was working—filing receipts, posting schedules, and things like that. Both Louie and Latka were usually on the periphery and interacted with the principal five to advance the plot, or when the story-of-the-week focused on them ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-fans-who-was-the-blonde-guy-in-the-newsroom/493641/22 "2022-03-09T17:11:56Z")
I remember reading an article years ago saying, ‘watch for the woman in the green dress who is an extra. She is in a lot of episodes of MTM in the background, walking down the street, riding up an escalator, a customer in the background in a restaurant.’ Once you see her, you spot her all the time… There’s something about green that catches the eye. When there were showings of ‘colorized movies’, it was easy to tell if it was colorized because the green color was so garish and obvious. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-fans-who-was-the-blonde-guy-in-the-newsroom/493641/23 "2022-03-09T17:16:16Z")
Remember the girl with the glasses who gets off the crowded elevator while Mary catches her breath in the background? I would swear she’s a Norwegian exchange student who was at my high school in the early '70s. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-fans-who-was-the-blonde-guy-in-the-newsroom/493641/24 "2022-03-09T17:21:31Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Jeff was the black guy? I watched him the other day and noticed he really looked like he was working—filing receipts, posting schedules, and things like that. > > Both Louie and Latka were usually on the periphery and interacted with the principal five to advance the plot, or when the story-of-the-week focused on them Yes. Played by J. Alan Thomas [![](https://www.sitcomsonline.com/photopost/data/740/Tax2.jpg) ](https://www.sitcomsonline.com/photopost/data/740/Tax2.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-fans-who-was-the-blonde-guy-in-the-newsroom/493641/25 "2022-03-09T18:38:53Z")
Sounds like Gunther from Friends. He was not supposed to be anything more than a non-speaking extra but when people began to notice him they gave him lines. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-fans-who-was-the-blonde-guy-in-the-newsroom/493641/26 "2022-03-09T18:50:11Z")
[Frank Adamo](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0010663/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t8) was on at least 51 episodes of **[The Dick Van Dyke Show](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054533?ref_=nm_ov_bio_lk1)**. He played different characters almost every time. He must have been a friend of either Van Dyke or Carl Reiner as he then appeared on at least 5 episodes on **[The New Dick Van Dyke Show](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066689/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_3)** playing different characters. He even had a tiny role in Fitzwilly & Bye Bye Birdie. So probably friends with Van Dyke. * * * If you binge The Dick Van Dyke Show you can’t help but notice him. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-fans-who-was-the-blonde-guy-in-the-newsroom/493641/27 "2022-03-09T18:53:23Z")
“She plays with drips, he paints on mustaches!” 🥺 ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-fans-who-was-the-blonde-guy-in-the-newsroom/493641/28 "2022-03-10T00:22:59Z")
IMDB says he was Van Dyke’s personal assistant, not an actor. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-fans-who-was-the-blonde-guy-in-the-newsroom/493641/29 "2022-03-10T03:35:21Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > There was Jeff, who was in the cage with Louie since almost the beginning, and appeared in 70 episodes. He occasionally was given a line or two, especially as the show went on. He was Gunthering before that was a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-fans-who-was-the-blonde-guy-in-the-newsroom/493641/30 "2022-03-10T08:21:17Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > One of the quirky things that amused me about the MTM show was that those characters in the background were usually the only ones doing any actual work. Mary, Murray, Lou and the other principal characters were always deeply involved in personal drama. If an actual TV newsroom was run that way, nothing would ever get done! 😀 Still, a very charming show. I agree. I think the only background player who ever had any lines was John Amos, who played Gordy, the weatherman; and his speaking roles were infrequent, though he was often seen in the background. I did appreciate the _Lou Grant_ show, where background players did just as they did on the MTM show, (i.e. looked like they were working, such as typing, making and taking phone calls, etc.), but so did the lead players. I’ve been in a newspaper’s newsroom once or twice, and _Lou Grant_ got it correctly in the background. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-fans-who-was-the-blonde-guy-in-the-newsroom/493641.md?page=1)