- Alan Hale, The Man I Love, 1945. All change. From Humphrey Bogart to Eleanor Parker, the entire March 1943 cast was dropped and repopulated for the ’45 shoot. Even then, it was not released until 1947.
- Sterling Hayden, The Asphalt Jungle, 1949. After trying baseball, construction and modeling, etc, New York’s Clark turned to acting and became an early front-runner for Dix Handley in John Huston’s film noir classic.
- Danny Thomas, The Jazz Singer, 1952. “You ain’t heard nuttin’ yet…” Some years earlier, Clark had been first choice for the re-make of Al Jolson’s first talkie.
- John Payne, 99 River Street, 1952. A boxer before actor, Clark was first up for Ernie, the ex-heavyweight champ contender in a little film noir gem from director Phil Karlson. Said Ernie: “I coulda been the champion.” Marlon Brando had much the same line in a year later in On The Waterfront.
- William Holden, Picnic, 1955. Early, early, the word keeps coming up… Clark was always there – in the early stages. But so was Holden – and there was nothing Clark or the Broadway play’s star, Ralph Meeker, could do about it. Holden had a Columbia contracy. They did not.
- William Holden, The Bridge on the River Kwai, 1956. They had Alec Guinness. But that was not enough. Iconic UK director David Lean and and producer Sam Spiegel needed a much bigger US star than Clark. Cary Grant passed. Holden was paid $300,000 plus 10% profit share, at $50,000 per year… A first for Hollywood!
- Bernard Hill, Titanic, 1996.
Birth year: 1912Death year: 1998Other name: Casting Calls: 7