Cue card
Encyclopedia
Cue cards, also known as note cards or idiot cards, are cards with words written on them that help actors and speakers remember what they have to say. They are typically used in television productions where they can be held off-camera and are unseen by the audience. Cue cards are still currently being used on many late night talk shows including Jay Leno
, David Letterman
and Conan O'Brien
as well as variety and sketch comedy shows like Saturday Night Live
due to the practice of last minute script changes. Many other TV shows, including game and reality shows, still use cue cards due to their mobility, as a teleprompter
only allows the actor or broadcaster to look directly into the camera.
Cue cards were originally used to aid aging actors. One early use is know to have occurred by John Barrymore
in the late 1930s, Barrymore began to lose his ability to remember his lines, and his diminished abilities were apparent in a surviving screen test that he made for an aborted film version of Hamlet in 1933. From then on, he insisted on reading his dialogue from cue cards.
Cue cards however did not become widespread until 1949 when Barney McNulty a CBS
page and former military pilot, was asked to write ailing actor Ed Wynn
's script lines on large sheets of paper to help him remember his script. McNulty volunteered for this duty because his training as a pilot taught him to write very quickly and clearly. McNulty soon saw the necessity of this concept and formed the company "Ad Libs." McNulty continued to be Bob Hope
's personal Cue Card man until he stopped performing. McNulty who died in 2000 at the age of 77 will forever be known in Hollywood as the "Cue-Card King".
Marlon Brando
was also a frequent user of cue cards. In the 1970s, during production of the film Last Tango in Paris
, he had cue cards posted about the set, although director Bernardo Bertolucci
declined his request to have lines written on actress Maria Schneider
's rear end.
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
, David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
and Conan O'Brien
Conan O'Brien
Conan Christopher O'Brien is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer and performer. Since November 2010 he has hosted Conan, a late-night talk show that airs on the American cable television station TBS....
as well as variety and sketch comedy shows like Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
due to the practice of last minute script changes. Many other TV shows, including game and reality shows, still use cue cards due to their mobility, as a teleprompter
Teleprompter
An autocue is a display device that prompts the person speaking with an electronic visual text of a speech or script. Using a teleprompter is similar to the practice of using cue cards...
only allows the actor or broadcaster to look directly into the camera.
Cue cards were originally used to aid aging actors. One early use is know to have occurred by John Barrymore
John Barrymore
John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
in the late 1930s, Barrymore began to lose his ability to remember his lines, and his diminished abilities were apparent in a surviving screen test that he made for an aborted film version of Hamlet in 1933. From then on, he insisted on reading his dialogue from cue cards.
Cue cards however did not become widespread until 1949 when Barney McNulty a CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
page and former military pilot, was asked to write ailing actor Ed Wynn
Ed Wynn
Ed Wynn was a popular American comedian and actor noted for his Perfect Fool comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a dramatic actor....
's script lines on large sheets of paper to help him remember his script. McNulty volunteered for this duty because his training as a pilot taught him to write very quickly and clearly. McNulty soon saw the necessity of this concept and formed the company "Ad Libs." McNulty continued to be Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
's personal Cue Card man until he stopped performing. McNulty who died in 2000 at the age of 77 will forever be known in Hollywood as the "Cue-Card King".
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
was also a frequent user of cue cards. In the 1970s, during production of the film Last Tango in Paris
Last Tango in Paris
Last Tango in Paris is a 1972 Italian romantic drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci which portrays a recent American widower who takes up an anonymous sexual relationship with a young, soon-to-be-married Parisian woman...
, he had cue cards posted about the set, although director Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci is an Italian film director and screenwriter, whose films include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Last Emperor and The Dreamers...
declined his request to have lines written on actress Maria Schneider
Maria Schneider (actress)
Maria Schneider was a French actress. She was best known for playing Jeanne, opposite Marlon Brando, in the 1972 film Last Tango in Paris.-Career:...
's rear end.