- Ingrid Bergman, For Whom The Bell Tolls, 1942. Barbara Britton, Frances Farmer, Betty Field, Paulette Goddard, Susan Hayward and Barbara Stanwyck were seen for Gary Cooper’s gal. Plus the French Annabella, Mexico’s Esther Fernández, true Brit Vivien Leigh and Germany’s Luise Rainer and Vera Zorina. However, Ernest Hemingway insisted on Bergman (and Cooper) because he’d had them in mind when writing the book. In case Ingrid changed her mind, producer-director Sam Wood had the Austro-Hungarian Aubert waiting in the wings.
- Ingrid Bergman, Saratoga Trunk, 1943. Lenora was back in the wings as Sam Wood’s second choice – losing Gary Coper again… and to Bergman again! – in the film of the Edna Ferber novel. The New York Times basically termed it ”gaudy junk.” Born Eleanore Maria Leisner in what is now Slovenia, Aubert won 21 Hollywood screen roles. Her movies went from Having A Wonderful Crime and The Wife of Monte Cristo to a couple of farces with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. No wonder she quit movies, relocated to New York and worked for the United Nations and the Museum of Natural History.
Birth year: 1918Death year: 1993Other name: Casting Calls: 2