- Jessie Ralph, The Good Earth, 1936. Among those in the mix for Cuckoo in producer Irving Thalberg’s version of Pearl S Buck’s best-seller were Gateson, Rafaello Ottiano and Blanche Yurka. This was the only film with a credit for MGM’s in-house genius, Irving Thalberg – after his shock death at 36. His boss, LB Mayer, had told him: “The public won’t buy pictures about American farmers, and you want to give them Chinese farmers Thalberg, as usual, was right – three Oscars from six nominations!
- Lee Patrick, Nobody’s Darling, 1942. With Gateson delayed on one of her 103 screen roles in 28 years, Patrick moved in as Miss Pennington, principal of her own exclusive boarding school for the children of famous Hollywood entertainers. Such as Republic’s America’s Little Sweetheart Mary Lee getting a chance to sing ’n’ dance and prove she was more, much more than Gene Autry’s main squeeze in Western programmers.
Birth year: 1891Death year: 1977Other name: Casting Calls: 2