The extra

Description:

Studying to be a lawyer, Rita takes dreggy acting jobs to pay the bills. Dressed in police uniform as an extra on a movie shoot, she wanders into a rough part of town only to be pulled into a vicious assault. Rita chases off the men but the boy they attacked isn’t out of danger yet. Rita’s heart goes out to him and his grandmother Amaryllis B. Cubitt, the director of an urban mission that Rita had turned to for help years ago. But the mission has changed from its unassuming past, and is now flush with private donations and gruff guards posted at the doors. Rita can’t help but wonder if now Amaryllis is too proud to ask for the help she needs.

subjects: Extras (Actors),  Fiction,  Hollywood,  Single mothers,  actress,  beagle,  homeless shelter,  show dogs,  single mother,  Fiction, mystery & detective, general

People: Amaryllis,  George Rowe,  Petey,  Rita Farmer

Places: Bakersfield,  Hollywood,  Los Angeles,  Los Angeles (Calif.),  South Central

Times: contemporary