- Richard Dreyfuss, Stand By Me, 1986. “Finding The Narrator [the grown up Gordie Lachance] was tricky,” director Rob Reiner told Brent Lang’s Variety oral history. “David Dukes did great, but his voice wasn’t what I wanted. It didn’t have the right tone. So I tried other actors, friends of mine that came in. Ted Bessell from That Girl and Michael McKean, but they never had the right voice. Then, I thought of [his high school buddy] Rick Dreyfuss. “It’s one of those films,” said the actor, “that whenever you happen to catch it, you’re caught and you can’t turn away.” And yet… “We sent it to every single studio,” said Reiner. “Everyone turned it down.” Norman Lear put up the budget and Columbia’s new Brit-boss, David Puttnam, wept at a screening and released it. Stephen King’s story is about the character’s first experience with death; Dukes died while making another King adaptation, Rose Red, TV, aired by ABC in 2002.
Birth year: 1945Death year: 2000Other name: Casting Calls: 1