- Warren Beatty, Heaven Can Wait, 1978. A go project in ’69. Cobsy’s manger, Roy Silver bought the rights to re-tread his favourite film, Here Comes Mr. Jordan (already re-made as Down to Earth ,1947). Francis Coppola to adapted it for him… as a black man dying and returning to earth in the body of a rich white man. The audience would see Cosby – the characters see him as the white man and treat him accordingly. By the time he was free to start – he and Silver had split.
- Nipsey Russell, The Wiz, l978. The role: The Tin Man. The trouble: other jobs got in the way. The truth: when it came to choosing movies, he was on a par with George Raft.
- Ted Danson, Cheers, TV, 1982-1993. For Sam Malone, soon enough America’s favourite barkeep – at the titular Boston saloon – the NBC network wanted Cosby. “We declined,” said co-creator Les Charles, “because it would have meant doing the Bill Cosby Show.” That arrived soon after, helped improve the lousy Cheers ratings and turned Thursday nights into a money machine for NBC. Unequalled until Cheers saved Seinfeld in the 90s.
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 3