- Vanessa Redgrave, Camelot, 1966.
For his last hurrah after 45 years running Warner Bros, head bro Jack L Warner – having learned his lesson the hard way by ruining My Fair Lady – wanted the original Broadway stars to reprise their 1960 roles of King Arthur and Guenevere. Richard Burton was not keen (or not for the money on offer). Nor was Julie Andrews, certainly not after the way Jack Warner dumped her from My Fair Lady (even though that led to her Mary Poppins Oscar). ). “OK, we’ll take Liz, as well,” said Warner. And why not their mate, Peter O’Toole, as Lancelot. However, Elizabeth Taylor was not going where Burton was not going… Julie refused to work with Burton’s replacement, Richard Harris. They had not got on during Hawaii – which is where he first heard about the film and started pushing to be the king. Top candidates to succeed Julie were Julie Christie, Petula Clark, Marianne Faithfull, Audrey Hepburn(part of her My Fair Lady deal), Liza Minnelli, Elizabeth Taylor Jan Waters. Jack Warner separately considered the way cheaper Ann-Margret, Polly Bergen, Cher, Mitzi Gaynor and Shirley Jones. Vanessa and Franco Nero (as Lancelot) were lovers on and off the screen. They finally wed in 2006. - Joanna Pettet, The Night of the Generals, 1968. She did not enter screen history by being Ulrike von Seydlitz-Gabler in the sole WWII film with an Egyptian (Omar Sharif) as a Wehrmacht officer… but by being the first actor to use The F Word – in I’ll Never Forget What’s’sname, 1967, five years before John Schuck did the same in M*A*S*H.
- Gillian Hills, Inadmissable Evidence, 1968. Playwright John Osborne wanted Marianne and won her in his next stage play. Evidence star Nicol Williamson selected her for Ophelia in his Hamlet, 1969.
- Anita Pallenberg, Performance, 1968.
“I didn’t want my career to be connected to Mick Jagger,” said Marianne about her lover. “The script I found completely terrifying. I was a fool, I should’ve accepted. Then again, maybe not. I had enough on my back and, maybe, Performance might have pushed me over the edge. I was trying to protect myself. Somebody has to.” “Warners wanted to burn the film,” co-helmer Nicolas Roeg told me in London. “They said even the bath water was dirty!” Losing Tuesday as Pherber (busted shoulder) greatly increased the rock mystique as the truly stoned Pallenberg was the lover of first Brian Jones, then Keith Richards – and legend insists that Mick and Anita really had sex on-camera; certainly the labs processing the film destroyed much of their “obscene” footage. No use asking Anita for the truth… “I was stoned for most of the shoot.” Richards was so sick with jealousy about their love scenes that he refused to play on Mick’s “Memo From Turner” song. (Ry Cooder substituted) “She was extraordinary, amazing,” said Nic Roeg. “I’ve been bloody lucky with women.” Not with critics, Richard Schickel called it “the most disgusting, the most completely worthless film I have ever seen.” He was so wrong. Ask Quentin Tarantino.
- Ewa Aulin, Candy, 1969
- Francesca Annis, Macbeth, 1970. “I’m very emotional and emotion always fucks up ambition. The audition was too early, I couldn’t find any barbiturates, couldn’t remember my lines… [Director Roman] Polanski was so kind, kept saying: What have you taken? What have you taken?”
- Diane Craig, Ned Kelly, 1970. She really did not want her career connected to Mick Jagger – she ended up in hospital after nearly ODing. Her Irish-born replacement moved down-under in 1960 and was still in Aussie movies and series in 2005.
- Gillian Hills, Demons of the Mind, 1971. Hammer Films’ horrors were running out of steam. So, said insurance companies, was Marianne. After her adventures down-under, insurance companies wouldn’t touch her except with a hideously expensive barge pole. The Blow Up and Clockwork Orange girl took over as Elisabeth. She only made two more films. Marianne missed nothing. After being shelved for a year, Demons opened on a double bill with the even trashier Horror On Snape Island. Owch!
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 8