- Burgess Meredith, Of Mice and Men, 1939. Paradoxically, the first film of a John Steinbeck work came from “presenter” Hal Roach’s comedy studio. He aimed to retain the two itinerant workers of the Depression era play in 1937-1938: Wallace Ford and Broderick Crawford as George and the mentally challenged Lennie. However, director Lewis Milestone – an ex-itinerant worker, himself – was praised and scorned for choosing the largely unknown Meredith and Lon Chaney Jr.
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Frank Faylen, It’s a Wonderful Life, 1946.
- Charles Kemper, On Dangerous Ground, 1950. Before beating five heavyweights (Lee J Cobb, Howard Da Silva, Albert Dekker, etc) to Walter Brent in the snowy mountains thriller, Bond was also up for “Pop” Daly – alongside Ford, Ray Collins, Jay C Flippen.
Birth year: 1898Death year: 1966Other name: Casting Calls: 3