- John Adams, Gloria, 1980. John Cassavetes got a call from producer Richard Shepherd at MGM: If you happen to have a story about kids, I’ll buy it immediately. “So I wrote this story to sell, strictly to sell. No great shakes, but I liked it. Gena liked it. Shepherd liked it… Next day he left Metro and signed with Disney!” Columbia finally backed the movie, but with Mrs C, Gena Rowlands, not Barbra Streisaand. Not Schroder, either.
- Brad Renfro, Apt Pupil US-France-Canada, 1997. The 62nd of Stephen King’s staggering 312 screen credits a cursed “short book.” Take One: James Mason was set for Kurt Dussander jn 1984 but died from a heart attack. His replacement, Richard Burton, also died before filming began, from a cerebral hemorrhage. Take Two: Nicol Williamson and Ricky Schroder were Dussander and Todd when the money ran out of Alan Bridges’ take with ten days to go in 1987. (King saw 75% of the “really good” film). Take Three: Bryan Singer directed Ian McKellen and Brad Renfro (as the Nazi and his US teenager blackmailer. Chicago critic Roger Ebert slapped it down as “an uneasy hybrid of the sacred and the profane.”
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 2