The role of luck, fate, being the right person at the right time. All of these are relevant actors in understanding acting career.
Yet there is one variable that may be more unique to the professions of acting and modeling, two l9jes of work heavily based on physical looks and appearances.
Acting: Spotting
Many actors were spotted early on in their lives and/or their careers by various agencies: producers, directors, fellow established actors, and especially casting directors.
At the height of the studio system, each company had its own talent scouts, who would attend productions, both amateurish and professional, at high schools, colleges, acting schools, and so on.
Spotting Game: Gone With the Wind
Hayward, Susan
Director George Cukor saw a photo of Susan Hayward in “Saturday Evening Post,” when he was casting the lead of Scarlett O’Hara in GWTW, and a screen test was arranged.
Actresses:
Christie, Julie
Director John Schlesinger saw her in a play, “Diary,” in London,
Clayburgh, Jill
Sarah Lawrence College, acting school with Uta Hagen
Crain, Jeanne
Jeanne Craig was crowned Miss Long Beach in the Miss America pageant in 1941, at age 16, while she was a model. She appeared on the covers of many magazines, and began studying acting in 1942, after an encouragement from a family friend.
After “Camera Girl,” i 1942, her photo appeared in Los Angeles magazines, and gt calls from talent scouts and two agents. The first to reach her to offer a screen test was a scout from 20th Century Fox, which offered her a conract in 1943.
Crawford, Joan
Producer J.H. Schubert spotted her in a chorus while performin in Detroit
Davis, Judy
Dunne, Irene
The turnng point in Dunne’s career was when producer Florenz Ziegfeld stood next to here in an office building. He was so struck by her beauty that he invited her to audition for the musical “Show Boat.”
Hawn, Goldie
She began taking dance and ballet at a young age, studied at American University, and appeared in choruses and night clubs. An agent, Art Simon, spotted her when she was in a choruson a 1967 TV Special nad she gt a manager at William Morris Agency.
Lange, Jessica
Jessica Lange was spotted by producer Dino De Laurentiss when he saw a photo of her in a magazine, while she worked as a model. On a tw-hour notice, she flew to Hollywood to audition for the female lead in King Kong (1976), reportedly competing with 2000 other actresses, includng Meryl Streep, who was deemed “too unattractive.”
Bob Fosse was so impressed with her portrayal that he chse her for a major role in his 1979 movie, All That Jazz.
Leigh, Janet
Janest was signedto a contract at MGM in 1947, asapersonal favorto Norma Shearer, the studio’s queen who retired in 1941.
Janet had no experience.
McLaine, Shirley
McGovern, Elizabeth
Agent saw her in a school play, “Skin..”
Malone, Dorothy
A talent agent saw her in a universoity play
Midler, Bette
Moore, Mary Tyler
Russell, Rosalind
Universal talent agent
Sarandon, Susan
Stanwyck, Barbara
Stanwyck accepted an offer from Joseph Schenck, then head of United Artists, who had seen her on Broadway in burlesque. Her first film, in 1927, was as a dancer.
Walters, Julia
Winger, Debra
She acted with Michael Gazzo (Godfather, Part 2) in theater, then TV, leading to female lead in Urban Cowboy (1979), oposite John Travolta.
