Almost Everyone’s Seen but Few Know King of the Extras : Entertainment: From a start on the stage in San Diego, actor Jim Painter has gone on to appear in scores of TV shows, commercials, and Hollywood films.

Jim Painter pops a cassette into the VCR and steps back to admire his work.

“Look, it happens quickly,” he says.

Painter appears on the screen dressed in a policeman’s uniform, pointing a shotgun at the noticeably exposed chest of sweaty Arnold Schwarzenegger. It’s one of the final scenes from “Commando.”

“Freeze, don’t even think about it,” Painter’s on-screen alter-ego barks at Schwarzenegger.

The chubby-cheeked Painter ejects the tape and inserts another one. This time he’s in a beer commercial, wearing a furry hat with buffalo horns. Another tape, and there he is dressed as a clown dancing behind Grace Slick in a Jefferson Airplane video. In the next clip he’s a hyper traffic cop in a commercial for salsa.

Painter, 35, is a professional face in the crowd. He’s a working actor, and he doesn’t like to be thought of as only an extra. Yet, almost all of his work is in crowd shots or quickie one-liners.

He personifies the community of hustling actors trying to make a living in the background of Hollywood productions, except he is one of the few managing to make a healthy living at it. A graduate of the San Diego theater scene, Painter has made the business of being an extra his own art form.

He works constantly. In eight years in Los Angeles, his face has appeared in dozens of movies and commercials, and literally hundreds of television shows. He may be the most widely-seen actor in Hollywood that nobody in the public recognizes.

Recently when a producer looking to make a short film about the quintessential Hollywood extra called Central Casting, one of the main casting agencies in Los Angeles, they refered him to Painter.

“He’s a professional and he always seems to be in the right place at the right time,” said Jimmy Jue, a casting director with Central Casting. “He’s has a unique all-American look. You can put him in so many different things.”

Ten years ago, Painter was the quintessential starving actor. In 1979, he hitchhiked to San Diego from Wyoming with a full beard, the ability to make money working construction and a degree in theater arts from the University of Wyoming.

His first role in San Diego was at the now-defunct San Dieguito Little Theater. The director, Sadie Lou Tieri, introduced Painter to her old friend, Marion Ross. Tieri asked Ross, who was appearing as the mother on the hit TV series “Happy Days,” to help Painter. Ross told him to look her up when he moved to Los Angeles.

The next day he hitchhiked to Los Angeles, presented himself on the set and hitchhiked back to San Diego for a performance that night.

Painter did shows at the Marquis, Coronado Playhouse and Lamb’s Players theaters in San Diego, and performed street theater in Balboa Park to earn extra money. But eventually he became a full-time extra on “Happy Days,” hamming it up behind Fonz, Richie and the rest of the gang.

In four seasons on “Happy Days” he had three lines. He still remembers the first: “That’ll teach you to mess with the Fonz.”

“Happy Days” launched Painter on his career as an extra. He took everything that was available, even stand-in work, which means doing little more than standing on a spot for a star so the cameras can be adjusted.

“I like being an extra,” he says in the living room of his Newhall condominium, which he shares with his wife, Valerie, and their 4-year-old daughter, Vanessa. “To me, the idea is to be a working actor. Why wait for the phone to ring?”

In many ways, Painter resemebles the Alan King character in the movie “Memories of Me.” A familiar face on the back lots, he seems to have a similar sense of easy-going camaraderie with his fellow extras, who are often treated like second-class citizens. Painter also has the same exuberance for his work as King’s character, who smiled even when he had to dress in a lobster suit.

“I can’t wait to go to work every morning,” Painter says. “I work with different people and I get to be a kid. It’s like a dream.

“When I was kid I used to play soldier and cowboy and Indians, and now I get to do it every day and I get to play with the best props, real M-16s and real cowboy outfits.”

Painter currently works an average of three days a week on the CBS series “Uncle Buck,” and then scrambles to find work on the off days, primarily on series such as “Paradise,” “Cop Rock” and “Matlock.” Each day, like most extras, he calls the main casting agencies from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. to see what the various productions in town may require for the next day. He carries a beeper with him, in case his agent needs to reach him.

Painter is ready for anything. At a moment’s notice he can appear in character. His closet includes a policeman’s uniform, a clown suit, a western outfit and several period costumes.

Painter’s expressive face, his ability to snap on what he calls a “goofy look,” is one key to his success, as well as his persistence and patience.

“When you use him, whatever the situation is, he will make you look good,” said David Kelley, an assistant director who has worked with Painter on Blake Edwards’ “Blind Date” and several “Dukes of Hazzards” television episodes, among other productions. “He’s got a nice round face. I use him a lot to do comedy.”

As much as anything else, though, Painter has a true talent for getting his face on camera. He always seems to be in the right place for that pan shot of the crowd, or the close-up reaction shot. He manages to make his character a part of the scene, without upstaging the main action.

“He’s camera smart,” said Tom Smith, an assistant director who often works with Painter on “Paradise.” “We get extras who want to do crosses, but a lot just go through the motions. His character always has a purpose.”

Painter has a knack for getting “upgraded.” He is often hired as an extra, and then manages to wangle a small speaking part out of it. Painter’s resume is loaded with parts such as “Officer Thomas” and “Pilot.”

Getting upgraded is lucrative, as well as artistically satisfying. A member of the Screen Extras Guild makes $86.32 for an eight-hour day on the set of a television show or movie. In addition, there is a long-list of specific added fees, such as an extra wearing a uniform or a tuxedo or a gown automatically makes an additional $17. It’s an added $27 if the extra appears in a car.

But an extra who gets to say a line immediately gets paid in accordance with the Screen Actors Guild scale, which can be more than $400 a day, plus residuals.

Commercials are even more lucrative. A spot on a national commercial can mean anywhere from $5,000 to $30,000 in residuals.

However, there is always uncertainty in the profession. More productions are using non-union extras, Painter says, making it increasingly difficult to find work. During the spring, when most television shows go on hiatus, painter will often work as a carpenter or handyman to help support his young family.

Painter met Valerie in 1981 in Carlsbad during the filming of “The Devil and Max Devlin.” It was her first and last extra role; the first of many for him.

“Val, she laughs at me,” Painter says. “She reminds me what real work is like. It humbles me.”

Acting brings in more money each year, he says, which makes it easier to spend his days playing like a kid. Besides it’s worth it just so his mother can sit at home in Glenrock Wyoming and see her son on television.

“Look, it’s my commercial,” he shouts, after ejecting a tape from the VCR. On the screen, on live TV, he is in a national EverReady commercial, sitting in a chair with his feet up on an ottoman when the drum-pounding mechanical bunny comes by his feet with a gas mask on.

A gleeful Painter turns and gives a high-five to his companion. “Hey, I just made some money,” he says.

Another day, another residual check.