Some interesting factoids:
-NBC wanted William Shatner for the title role in the TV series
Dr. Kildare. He wasn't interested, and the role went to Richard Chamberlain.
-Lee Marvin, who said he was out of the country and
really fishing at the time, passed on the role of "Quint" in
Jaws, as did Jon Voight for the role of Matt Hooper. The roles ultimately went to Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss, respectively.
-Producers originally wanted Bing Crosby to play the title role in
Columbo, but he didn't want to interrupt his prolific golf schedule, so the role went to Peter Falk.
-Cher passed on the hit,
"The Nights the Lights Went Out In Georgia," so Vicky Lawrence went on to "sing" it
. Sonny, who was also Cher's manager, was actually the one who nixed the song.
-Spielberg wanted Steve McQueen for the lead role in
Close Encounters..., but he wasn't able to cry on cue. Richard Dreyfuss had no such problem, so he landed the role.
-Network brass wanted to create a show called
Our Four Daughters featuring the
Lennon Sisters. They couldn't commit the time, however, and the show ended up being about a widowed dad with three sons, called....
My Three Sons.
-John Travolta passed on the lead role in
American Gigolo, so it went to Richard Gere. Travolta, busy with flying lessons, also turned down Gere's role in
An Officer and A Gentleman.
-Karen Allen was the producers' first choice for the lead in
Pretty Woman, but she turned it down. So did Molly Ringwald, who said she couldn't play a prostitute. I hope Julia Roberts sent them both a fruit basket.
-Tom Selleck passed on the role of
Indiana Jones, which ultimately went to Harrison Ford.
-Tuesday Weld was originally offered Mia Farrow's role in
Rosemary's Baby, but she turned it down.
-Geena Davis and Lori Petty sure seem to be mismatched as sisters in
A League of Their Own. In fact, Debra Winger was originally tapped for Geena Davis' part, but dropped out when Madonna was signed.
-Angie Dickinson was offered the role of
Krystle Carrington in
Dynasty, but refused it, so Linda Evans got the role.
-Bruce Willis turned down Patrick Swayze's role in then-wife Demi Moore's movie,
Ghost, because he didn't want to play a ghost. He went on to rave reviews about 10 years later in
The Sixth Sense in which he played....a ghost.
-Don Johnson passed on Mark Harmon's role in
NCIS.
-The part of
Mrs. Robinson in the movie of the same name, was originally offered to Doris Day.
-Bette Midler turned down the role of Annie Wilkes in
Misery, calling it "too violent." Kathy Bates went on to win an Oscar for her performance in the role.
What's interesting is that a lot of these roles were offered to celebs who were often just coming off a successful long-running TV or movie role. Producers like "flavors of the month' but, as we can see, that doesn't always matter and doesn't always translate into repeated success.
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