In almost every film made, there are casting issues. The actors seen in the final product are not necessarily the people originally chosen to fill the roles. Well known to most trivia buffs, Shirley Temple possibly would have been Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz had she not been under contract to MGM rival Fox at the time. Buddy Ebsen was cast as the Tin Man until he discovered that he was allergic to makeup used in the costume.

-Imagine how different Gone with the Wind would have been if Lucille Ball had been cast as Scarlett O’Hara or Groucho Marx as Rhett Butler.

-Moving forward a few decades, the Bruce Willis starring action movie Die Hard was originally planned as a sequel to that fine Arnold Scharzenegger masterpiece, Commando. However, after the Governator turned the role down, the film was changed and eventually starred Mr. Willis after four other casting attempts.

-Speaking of Ah-nuld, could you possibly imagine O.J. Simpson as The Terminator? Seriously, it could have happened.

-Bill Murray was considered for the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in the 1989 film. Has Mr. Murray ever done a non-comedic movie? Or maybe, the movie was originally supposed to be lighter in tone and closer to the ’60s television show. Robin Williams was considered for the role of the Joker in both the original Tim Burton directed movie and also for this summer’s The Dark Knight (which will be Heath Ledger’s swan song).

You can view other possible casting choices for your favorite movies at notstarring.com.

Everyone knows that most famous people do not become so overnight. In fact, the majority of today’s stars led everyday lives and some of them probably wished that they had. Here is but a sampling of the “odd jobs” and other highlights of some famous people.

Dan Aykroyd and Steve Carell both worked for the postal service.

Jennifer Aniston was a telemarketer.

Warren Beatty was a rat catcher.

Lucille Ball was fired from an ice cream parlor for not putting bananas in a banana split.

Boy George (of the 80s group Culture Club who created the Broadway flop musical Taboo) was fired from a supermarket for wearing the store’s bags.

Finally in the 1970s, Tim Allen (in the would rather forget category) spent two years in prison for dealing cocaine.

My personal favorite odd job of the stars would be for Academy Award winner Whoopi Goldberg. Apparently, the Whoopster was a mortuary cosmetologist before she became a stand-up comedienne. The thought of going into a funeral parlor to beautify a dead body seems strange at best. However, my mother who is a beautician herself has visited our local mortuary on several occasions for just that reason. She also has a standing appointment for several of her more mature patrons… talk about making house calls. Apparently, they want no one else touching their hair as they make their way into the great beauty parlor in the sky.

To learn more about other stars before they made it big visit this site:

https://www.hardlyfamous.com/