- Paul Newman, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 1958. With a WWII Purple Heart and two consecutive Olympic decathlete bronze medals in 1948 and 1952, “Chunk” Simmons turned actor in 1956, first at Universal, then MGM – where he was first set as Elizabeth Taylor’s husband before the suits managed to sign Newman. Simmons retired after a mere 20 films, becoming an artist and photopgrapher back home in Charlotte, North Carolina.
- George Montgomery, Watusi, 1958. MGM called it a sequel, but it was a total re-hash of King Solomon’s Mines… complete with long shots of Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr and Rchard Carlson (and the animal stampede) from the 1950 vertsion. Sole difference being that Montgomnery (and not poor Simmons) was Harry Quartermain,… re-living his father Allan’s ventures, almost shot for shot.
Birth year: 1912Death year: 2008Other name: Casting Calls: 2