- Alan Hale, Valley of the Giants, 1937. Warner records reveal both Foran and Allen Jenkins tested for Ox in the conservation thriller way ahead of its time. From singing cowboys to horror subjects and John Wayne movies, Foran did them all – 162 screen roles between 1934-1968.
- James Craig, South To Karanga, 1939. The B-Western idol (from New Jersey!) was replaced as the adventurer-hero by Craig. He looked like a hero…just didn’t always sound like one. MGM only took him, on because he resembled Clark Gable – far away in WWII.
- Lon Chaney Jr, The Wolf Man, 1940. Universal planned Larry Talbot – the wolf-afflicted character – for their top horror, Boris Karloff. Bela Lugosi tried to get the rôle. Instead, it was given to Foran – a B-cowpoke. Then, Junior Chaney was noticed on the lot… His make-up took six hours to put on and three hours to take off. There’s another day gone! Foran later partnered Junior Lon in the first of his three bandage numbers, The Mummy’s Tomb, the following year.
- James Brown, Corvette K-225, 1942. Or Corvettes in Action, when director Howard Hawks wanted to use the cast of Arthur Lubin’s impressive Eagle Squadron, 1942.. However, Robert Rossen made this WWII thriller – ironically stuffing the decks with various Hawksian cowpoke character players: Noah Beery Jr, Andy Devine, Fuzzy Knight, etc. Either way, the Corvette was part of the Royal Canadian Navy’s fleet.
Birth year: 1910Death year: 1979Other name: Casting Calls: 4