DONALD SUTHERLAND still regrets demanding an upfront salary before working on NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE, because if he'd accepted a proposed percentage of the box-office take he would have made a fortune.
The 70-year-old actor was so convinced director John Landis' 1978 comedy would be a minor success he was more concerned with securing himself a decent wage.
He says, "Landis phones up and says, 'I'm gonna do this movie for Universal called Animal House, and they want to give you two-and-a-half per cent of the profits.'
"And I said, 'No way! I've got to have my daily salary everyday.'
"So I got paid for one day's work and threw way $2 million! I remember sitting at the premier with my friend HANNAH WEINSTEIN and both of us saying, 'Nah, this'll never work!'"
In the 1970s came the most controversial and accessible comedy ever seen. The National Lampoon...