# Actors that turned down roles that made another actor famous **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 7, 2020, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075 "2020-01-07T16:47:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075/41 "2020-01-08T17:10:38Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I have a \*very \*hard time believing any of this. Dorothy Fontana is on record as saying Spock was considered from the start, as was also stated in Stephen Whitfield’s _ **The Making of Star Trek** _. > > Anyway, Jim Nabors left _ **The Andy Griffith Show** _ for _ **Gomer Pyle, USMC** _ a the end of the fourth season in 1964, the same time the first _ **Star Trek** _ pilot was getting under way. How could Lindsay even be considered for the role of Spock if he had already been introduced on _ **Andy Griffith** _? (Goober and Gomer appeared together in one episode.) Why would that have prevented Gene Roddenberry from offering the role for what was a pilot episode at the time? There was no guarantee of a series, and indeed, the first _Star Trek_ pilot went unsold. Lindsey could have turned down the role because he was already in a series, even if Goober wasn’t a major character. And I regard the story as plausible since it was independently verified by Ernest Borgnine. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075/42 "2020-01-08T17:20:13Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Why would that have prevented Gene Roddenberry from offering the role for what was a pilot episode at the time? There was no guarantee of a series, and indeed, the first _Star Trek_ pilot went unsold. Lindsey could have turned down the role because he was already in a series, even if Goober wasn’t a major character. And I regard the story as plausible since it was independently verified by Ernest Borgnine. With all due respect to Ernest Borgnine, I still don’t believe it. As early as the _ **The Lieutenant** _ era, Roddenberry told Nimoy he had him in mind for a part in a science-fiction pilot he was working on. He never envisioned anyone else playing Spock. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075/43 "2020-01-08T18:48:14Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > [Sam Neill did a screen test](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-05/james-bond-trailer-is-out-and-sam-neill-almost-played-007-spy/11768270) for James Bond after Roger Moore’s reign. He didn’t want the role, and it sounds like the producers didn’t want him either. Steven Spielberg initially offered the role of Alan Grant in _Jurassic Park_ to Harrison Ford. Ford declined and Sam Neill was cast. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075/44 "2020-01-08T18:54:34Z")
The story goes that Van Johnson had already agreed to play the role of Elliott Ness in the TV version of _The Untouchables_, then backed out the weekend before shooting was to start, paving the way for last-second replacement Robert Stack. And then there was Genevieve Bujold on (or not on) _Star Trek: Voyager_. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075/45 "2020-01-08T20:38:53Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Something I did not know until today: Jack Lord had been the original choice to play James Kirk on _Star Trek_, but he wanted a 50% stake in the show, and was turned down. So, instead, the role made William Shatner famous. 🙂 Huh. I heard after _Dr. No_ Jack Lord wanted more money and equal billing to continue playing Felix Leiter in the Bond series. They went with other actors instead. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075/46 "2020-01-08T21:02:23Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > And then there was Genevieve Bujold on (or not on) _Star Trek: Voyager_. She didn’t turn down the part of Janeway, though. She and the producers mutually agreed that she wasn’t right for the part and she was released from her contract. And the role didn’t make Kate Mulgrew famous. She had previously starred in _Kate Loves a Mystery_ and had several guest-starring roles in other series. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075/47 "2020-01-08T22:13:38Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > She didn’t turn down the part of Janeway, though. She and the producers mutually agreed that she wasn’t right for the part and she was released from her contract. To the point that she had actually shot shot one or two days’ worth of scenes before departing the show. My recollection from that time is that Bujold hadn’t done much television work (at least, not episodic television in which she had a recurring, lead role), and was unpleasantly surprised at what the production schedule was like. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075/48 "2020-01-08T22:22:47Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > With all due respect to Ernest Borgnine, I still don’t believe it. As early as the _ **The Lieutenant** _ era, Roddenberry told Nimoy he had him in mind for a part in a science-fiction pilot he was working on. He never envisioned anyone else playing Spock. I have a hard time swallowing this too. George Lindsey as Spock sounds like an answer to a “worst possible miscasting” question. I envision a scene like this: Uhura: Captain, the away team is reporting unusual seismic activity on the planet. Spock: Tell 'em Spock says “hey”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075/49 "2020-01-08T23:15:50Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > Huh. I heard after _Dr. No_ Jack Lord wanted more money and equal billing to continue playing Felix Leiter in the Bond series. They went with other actors instead. A lot of other actors. The character has been played by nine different actors in the twelve productions he has appeared in. That’s one more than the number of actors who’ve played James Bond. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2020, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075/50 "2020-01-09T00:31:41Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I have a hard time swallowing this too. George Lindsey as Spock sounds like an answer to a “worst possible miscasting” question. I envision a scene like this: > > Uhura: Captain, the away team is reporting unusual seismic activity on the planet. > Spock: Tell 'em Spock says “hey”. “Captain, I recommend you listen to C&W, 'cause it’s \*real \*music 'bout \*real \*people!” :o I wonder if the writer of that article ever considered the possibility that Ernest was pulling his leg (or that Lindsay had pulled his). ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2020, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075/51 "2020-01-09T05:15:05Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Spock: Tell 'em Spock says “hey”. Uhura: Hey-ling frequencies open. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2020, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075/52 "2020-01-09T09:39:04Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Uhura: Hey-ling frequencies open. Go to your room ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2020, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075/53 "2020-01-09T10:42:38Z")
I don’t think Marilyn Monroe turned down the role of Holly Golightly. I think the casting department and director didn’t want her. The person who wanted her was Truman Capote, who had envisioned her in the role when he wrote the book. They told him she wasn’t young enough (in the book, Holly is supposed to be about 20, and Monroe was 35). Then they went and cast practically middle-aged Audrey Hepburn (I’m kidding-- she was three years younger than Monroe, but still much older than Golightly was in the book), which enraged Capote. Apparently he found out that the screenwriter had been told to rewrite for Hepburn, after he (that is, Capote) had said to write for Monroe. An example I thought was pretty famous, but so far has not been mentioned, was Bela Lugosi turning down the monster in Universal’s 1931 _Frankenstein_, so the studio chose the unknown William Pratt, and renamed him “Karloff.” I’m not sure when he picked up the “Boris.” After having decided to go with an unknown, the studio built a whole publicity stunt around the unknown nature of the actor playing the monster, and didn’t use his image or name in any of the pre-release posters and trailers. The film not only made his career, but made his image iconic. Interestingly, Lugosi was not the original actor cast to play Dracula, Lon Chaney was. But Chaney had kept the fact that he was ill a secret, and he died of throat cancer before filming for\* Dracula \*began-- just before-- so a actor who’d played the role on stage was hastily brought in. He didn’t speak English particularly well, which is the reason for his detached performance-- very, very different most likely, from what Chaney would have done. He most likely would have played a pathetic vampire tired of living forever, for whom you almost felt sorry. Lugosi was just evil. Even more interesting was the fact that years later, Karloff turned down the role of the Thing in\* The Thing from Another World\* (aka simply _The Thing_), which role went to James Arness. Now, I’m not saying that this role made Arness’s career, or even got him noticed, so that he got cast in Gunsmoke (which was recently toppled as the longest-running prime time show when L&O:SVU went in for a 21st season; L&O:TOS ran an equal number of seasons, but fewer total episodes), but the role did go to a nobody who later became famous. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2020, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075/54 "2020-01-09T11:08:08Z")
I liked the story I heard about John Denver knocking back the lead role in _An Officer and a Gentleman_. He said that he had read the script and thought that it was rubbish. After seeing the completed movie he realised that he simply lacked the imagination to see how it would work as a movie. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2020, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075/55 "2020-01-09T12:54:42Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Go to your room You’re just mad you didn’t think of it first. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2020, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075/56 "2020-01-09T12:57:23Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I liked the story I heard about John Denver knocking back the lead role in _An Officer and a Gentleman_. He said that he had read the script and thought that it was rubbish. After seeing the completed movie he realised that he simply lacked the imagination to see how it would work as a movie. Didn’t he have a cameo as a sniper in training? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![HelenABucket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/258eb7/32.png) [@HelenABucket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenABucket)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075/57 "2020-11-01T03:16:35Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Mickey Rooney was Norman Lear’s first choice to play Archie Bunker in _All in the Family_ . He turned it down and Carroll O’Connor accepted the role that made him famous. Harrison Ford turned down Rob Reiner’s role, too. He didn’t think he’d want to be on a show that played bigotry for laughs. He kind be kinda… literal, no? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075/58 "2020-11-01T04:28:12Z")
Grant Goodeve continues to act, and has done a lot of voiceover work over the years. It sounds like he has had a long and scandal-free career. > **[Grant Goodeve](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_Goodeve)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Grant Goodeve (born July 6, 1952) is an American actor and television host. He is best known for his role as David Bradford, the eldest son on ABC television's Eight Is Enough from 1977 to 1981; he sang the theme song for the show, as well. More recent work includes stints on the Home & Garden Television cable channel, and voice roles such as the Engineer in the multiplayer video game Team Fortress 2, and Wolf O'Donnell in Star Fox: Assault. > Good... He’s also done some work in Christian media, although he’s not in-your-face the way some other actors have been (i.e. Kirk Cameron). ---
**Author:** ![HelenABucket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/258eb7/32.png) [@HelenABucket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenABucket)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075/59 "2020-11-01T18:21:19Z")
I’d love Die Hard with Nick Nolte. But could you IMAGINE Die Hard with Harrison Ford or, g-d forbid… BURT REYNOLDS!!! More like Die Hard Laughing. Ford would’ve done great at getting beaten up and also being REALLY pissed off, but Burt… oh, no. Just no. ---
**Author:** ![Honolulu\_Lulu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/87869e/32.png) [@Honolulu\_Lulu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honolulu_Lulu)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075/60 "2020-11-01T19:57:50Z")
The same year that Reeve played a homosexual in Deathtrap [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-turned-down-roles-that-made-another-actor-famous/846075.md?page=4)