- Montgomery Clift, Red River, l946. Howard Hawks directed him (slightly) as The Outlaw and wanted him again. Howard Hughes, who re-shot The Outlaw, wanted him in another way – sexually. And refused permission. And so, a Clift was born, having impressed Hawks in Broadway’s You Touched Me. Buetel (born Warren Higgins) said Hughes ruined his career: just 13 roles, and mainly TV, over 18 years. “Because he believed I was sleeping with one of his girls.” Buetel ultimately gave in to Hughes, but Hughes punished him by keeping him off the screen. “What a raw deal for Jack,” says The Outlaw’s hot-water bottle, Jane Russell. “He was crushed.”
- Keith Andes, Blackbeard, The Pirate, 1951. Plan A : Robert Stevenson helming Robert Mitchum, Victor Mature, Faith Domerge, and Buetel. Plan B became Raoul Walsh in charge of (some of the time) Robert Newton (stealing the entire enterprise), Linda Darnell, William Bendix and Keith Andes. Sixteen years later, Stevenson got a second chance – guiding Peter Ustinov as Blackbeard’s Ghost at Disney.
Birth year: 1917Death year: 1989Other name: Casting Calls: 2