- David Bowie, The Man Who Fell To Earth, 1976. Before catching the BBC’s Bowie documentary, Cracked Actor, UK director Nicolas Roeg met a tall doctor at a dinner party and offered him the title alien. Just. Like. That. “Not only is he nearly 7ft tall, he’s also an extraordinarily clever hematologist as well as writer and film-maker. Everything about him was right, but it was totally as if somewhere in another world they’d made someone who looked human… but they got the measurements just a little bit out.” Crichton’s only screen appearance was “bearded surgeon” in his Andromeda Strain, 1971, when on his first visit to Universal he was shown around by a kid named Spielberg. They went on to make the Jurassic Park and ER series together. I’m surprised Nic didn’t ask his old boss, iconic director David Lean… “He was a unqiue character. If someone from Mars walked onto his set, they would walk straight up to his chair.”
Usual occupation: NovelistBirth year: 1942Death year: 2008Other name: Casting Calls: 1