- Randy Stuart, Stella, 1949. Chicago journalist Claude Binyon is a Hollywood writer (56 movies) and eight times director I’ve never heard of! He sure knew what worked. For example, he suddenly changed all three leading ladies in this Fox comedy feast. First booked for Mary, Stuart was switched to Lawrence’s Claire as Ann Sheridan, at her finest, stole all as Stella.
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Randy Stuart, Stella, 1950. After the leading lady switcharound (Ann Sheridan replacing Susan Hayward), the two other top female roles were also altered. Stuart, booked as Mary, suddenly became Claire as Marion Marshall took over Mary.
- Jean Hagen, Singin’ in the Rain, 1951. In the MGMusical gem about the dawn of Hollywood talkies, Nina Foch and Barbara Lawrence also tested for Lina Lamont – the silent star with, as critic Roger Ebert put it, a “voice like fingernails on a blackboard.” And I have to mention the famous titular routine… It took seven days to shoot, with Kelly’s taps and rain splashing dubbed in later by three female dancers, including Jeanne Coyne, wife of Kelly’s co-director Stanley Donen, and by 1960, Mrs Kelly, until her 1973 death.
Birth year: 1930Death year: 2013Other name: Casting Calls: 3