- Mae West, Go West Young Man, 1936. Paramount signed Gladys due to her Personal Appearance triumph on Broadway and then gave the movie queen part (and the new title) to its own movie queen. Gladys was stuffed into the tear-jerking Valiant Is The Word For Carrie. She had another word for it.
- Barbara Stanwyck, Stella Dallas, 1937. Director King Vidor wanted Stanwyck. She refused to test. Producer Samuel Goldwyn preferred Gladys or Ruth Chatterton. Barbara was: “Too young. Incapable. No experience with children. No sex appeal!” No Oscar, either, but she came close… And again when, as fourth choice, she solved Goldwyn’s casting headaches for Ball of Fire, 1941.
- Agnes Moorehead, Government Girl, 1943. Moorehead survived better than most – well, she had the better lines by, of all scenarists, Budd Schulberg. Olivia De Havilland, for example, was unhappily involved, having been loaned from Warner (in exchange for Ingrid Bergman) to producer David O Selznick, who promptly loaned her on to RKO’s lame comedy about the $1-a-year volunteers for Washington work during WW11.
- Deborah Kerr, From Here To Eternity, 1953.
Birth year: 1900Death year: 1954Other name: Casting Calls: 4