According to the BBC's David Willis, Claude the security guard at the gate of The Prospect Studios in Hollywood was nice to the right casting director enough times for it to matter.

All alone in his cramped wooden booth, Claude had used his influence wisely. Every day when a particular casting director would arrive, he would find a space for his car.

One day the casting director was looking for someone to play a doctor in his show and invited Claude to audition.

The show was Grey's Anatomy, a hospital drama which follows Desperate Housewives in Sunday night's primetime schedule.

It has an audience of more than 20m, and Claude is now part of the cast.

When I saw him a few days ago in the tiny wooden booth he has occupied for six years, he was too busy taking phone calls to haggle over where I should leave my Honda Civic.

Talent agents were calling, some offering to waive their 10% commission in return for his signature.

Union representatives were courting him, old girlfriends were coming out of the woodwork.

Old editions of the Los Angeles Times which once littered the booth had been replaced by the industry bible Daily Variety.

Willis is the BBC correspondent in Los Angeles who is taking a bit of a break from journalism to try to make it himself as an actor in Hollywood.

Photo: BBC website