- June Allyson, Girl Crazy, 1943. As the August 1939 plan of Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell churned into the final MGM teaming of Rooney and Judy Garland., other choices were recast. Such as Allyson subbing Weidler… who had replaced Garland in the previous year’s Youngest Profession, Weidler retired at 15 after putting her Best Foot Forward, her 45th film in a dozen years – and the third she had won from Shirley Temple – including The Philadelphia Story and The Women.
- Ann Blyth, Mildred Pierce, 1944. Trying to grow up, Shirley Temple pushed herself forward at 16 to be Joan Crawford’s spoilt teenage daughter, Veda Pierce. Bonita Granville, Ann Rutherford, Martha Vickers and Virginia Weidler were just as keen. But when Crawford (after a bunch of flops) agreed to test as Mildred, she turned it into a test of Blyth (also 16) as Veda. They both won. Blyth was almost a lone voice in Hollywood calling Crawford “the kindest, most helpful human being I’ve ever worked with. We remained friends for many years after the film. I never knew that other Joan Crawford that people wrote about.”
Birth year: 1927Death year: 1968Other name: Casting Calls: 2