Actors who were replaced during production

This is another good one - Madge Sinclair as Helen Willis in the pilot for The Jeffersons (which aired as an episode of “All in the Family”). Sinclair was replaced by Roxie Roker. I don’t know if she left the production prior to shooting, or if they reshot her scene with Roker. But for years, she was listed in the closing credits for that episode of “All in the Family”, even though it was Roker who appeared onscreen.

 

Depends on who you ask. Either she quit after a day and a half of shooting, unaccustomed to the hectic pace of television, or she was replaced because her portrayal simply wasn't working. Producer Rick Berman was quoted in TV Guide saying, "It was immediately obvious it was not a good fit." I have read it was felt her voice and delivery was just too soft for the role, as opposed to Kate Mulgrew, who's voice reminded me of a Munchkin.

But Genevieve Bujold fans should know she will always live long and prosper in Voyager. Her left hand resting on a panel remains.

 

This belongs in the "People who died before production started" thread

And this goes in the "Original choice for the role" thread -- which I've actually thought about starting for a while, but never got around to it.

 

A very rare photo of Paul Douglas shooting the Twilight Zone episode "The Mighty Casey" at Wrigley Field in L.A. (yes, there was a Wrigley Field in L.A). Douglas looked very ill and haggard in the footage, and died soon after filming. Rod Serling decided to reshoot, at his own expense, with Jack Warden in Douglas' role.

 

Sorry, I realize that now, but can't delete the post like I want to. This is one of the issues I have with this site, my many bonehead posts I've done can't be deleted by me, so they stay up as an embarrassment.

 

Fixed it for me, at least.

 

The Tony Clifton (Andy Kaufman) Taxi incident (lost recording by Tony Danza; 1978) - The Lost Media Wiki

In 1978, performance artist and comedian Andy Kaufman reluctantly signed on to the sitcom Taxi to play a variation of his "Foreign Man" character re-named "Latka Gravas". Among Kaufman's numerous stipulations was that his alter-ego character, "Tony Clifton", an obnoxious, abusive lounge singer, would be guaranteed a certain amount of guest appearances. So, what was meant to be Clifton's debut episode "A Full House For Christmas" was written, with Tony playing Nick DePalma, the gambler brother of Danny Devito's character, Louie. Kaufman, whose Latka character was absent from the episode, would make a "guest appearance."

Clifton was reportedly miserable to work with, doing things such as bringing prostitutes to work with him (and declaring that he had re-written the script to include them), angering everyone present, and generally being unable to act. The decision was then made to fire Clifton and replace him with another actor. On the day this was to take place, cast member Tony Danza brought his Super 8mm camera to the set to document it. Ed Weinberger, the producer, then told Clifton that he was fired, which sent him into a tirade leading to him, Weinberger, and cast member Judd Hirsch getting into a wrestling match on the floor, with Danza recording the entire thing.

Clifton was then removed from the studio by Paramount security. Several days later, while Danza was screening the film for his co-stars, Andy (back as himself), walked into the room and watched the film as well. He remarked that Clifton was "an a$$hole".

Danza's footage of the incident hasn't ever been seen by the public and it's unknown if the footage still exists to this day. The only physical evidence of the event publicly available are a couple of still photos (taken by Kaufman's co-writer Bob Zmuda) of Andy being removed from the lot by security guards in-costume.​

"Clifton" was replaced by actor Richard Foronjy

 

The Wizard of Oz

Jed Clampett...er, I mean Buddy Ebsen had a bad reaction to the make-up so he was out and Jack Haley, Jr. was in.

 

Bewitched- Dick York replaced by Dick Sargent
Alias Smith & Jones- Pete Duel replaced by Roger Davis

 

Duel had shot about two thirds of his last episode when he tragically committed suicide. Davis came in and reshot all of Duel's scenes.

However, it's said that if you pay very close attention you can still see Duel -- or at least parts of him -- in certain shots.

 

Sellers was better off having the heart attack than appearing in that turkey!

 

Actually, the film as it stands now is hilarious, with great performances by both Dean Martin and Cliff Osmond. It's so close to being a classic... But it cannot overcome the miscasting of Sellers' replacement, Ray Walston. As Osmond himself said, "Walston was okay, but Sellers was a genius".

 

Elephant Walk

Vivien Leigh went to Ceylon to shoot location footage. However when the company returned to Hollywood she suffered a nervous breakdown and was replaced by Elizabeth Taylor.

The location shots in the film are of Leigh. But the process shots and interiors are all Liz.

 

Fast & Furious Paul Walker...

 

disagree~! I like that movie! very bawdy wilder comedy but I think its great and novak gives an underrated performance (and dean is dean) I think losing sellers really hurt the film tho, no offence to Walston but the sellers edge would've been amaing

 

He probably wanted Micheal Keaton because the film was based on Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr.

 

I like her as an actress but she’s awful in this footage.

 

She quit after the first week of shooting. My guess is that she struggled with the material—the technospeak. It wasn’t Paramiunt’s choice. As off putting as Mulgrew was in the role, she owned the character whereas Bujold seemed tentative in her portrayal.

Geneviève Bujold was the original captain in the Star Trek Voyager series but quit after two days

 

Gig Young as The Waco Kid for “ Blazing Saddles” He collapsed due to alcohol withdrawal on the first day of shooting and was replaced by Gene Wilder.

 

I believe in between them the role was offered to Dan Dailey, who accepted, then the next day changed his mind and withdrew from the film.

 

Still, speaking of Full Metal Jacket: R. Lee Ermey wasn’t the original drill instructor, and the guy he replaced turns up later in a brief role as a helicopter gunner shooting at civilians.

 

Barry Livingston, most famous for playing Ernie on “My Three Sons” made his debut in the Paul Newman film “Rally ‘Round the Flag, Boys”. Early in production they noticed his eyes were moving all over the place. Doctors ruled out a seize and diagnosed astigmatism. To fix this they prescribed eyeglasses.
When Livingston showed up with glasses. It was bad enough he had buck teeth and a bowl haircut but thick eyeglasses were too much for a son of Paul Newman. So they dropped him. Livingston says they left one scene of him in the movie: Newman holding him upside down trying to dislodge a penny.

Gig Young was supposed to be the voice of Charlie Townsend one”Charlie’s Angels”. But he showed up drunk and John Forsyth got the role

 

I was saddened when I read how Universal and ABC handled Duel’s death. The show did not stop production; they were shooting around Duel’s character on the afternoon of the day they found out about his death, and Roger Davis was in place the next day. The producers apparently wanted to end the series, but ABC said that they had a contract with Universal to deliver the show and they expected them to do it in the best possible fashion.

 

Yeah, Smith & Jones. I really enjoyed this one as a teen, especially the chemistry between the leads. And by this point, I was no longer into Westerns. I remembered Duel from a sit-com in the mid-60s, Love On A Rooftop and liked his irreverence. It was a shock that day they announced his passing. I liked the show enough to hope for the best with Davis. Unfortunately, the magic was gone and so was my Hannibal Hayes.

 

The original director of 1992’s Radio Flyer was eased out after production began with Rosanna Arquette as its leading lady. Richard Donner was hired and replaced Arquette with Lorraine Bracco.

Kim Novak was replaced by Deborah Kerr in Eye of the Devil well into production. It was reported that the film was shot again because Novak was hurt in a fall from horseback though there were also reports of one of the film's producers sacking Novak following a rancorous argument.