Original director John Badham stepped down when he objected to 33-year-old Diana Ross being cast as a teenage Dorothy. The character was changed to a 24-year-old kindergarten teacher, but by then Sidney Lumet had already replaced Badham.
The funniest thing about that defense is that Ross actually does, in effect, play a kid. Her character, a 24-year-old Harlem schoolteacher, is a home-body who has buttoned her feelings up tight. Though she's supposed to be teaching kindergarten, you have the feeling that even a 5-year-old could teach her a few things.
When Motown star Diana Ross asked Gordy if she could be cast as Dorothy, he declined, saying that Ross—then 33 years old—was too old for the role. Ross went around Gordy and convinced executive producer Rob Cohen at Universal Pictures to arrange a deal where he would produce if Ross was cast as Dorothy.
Baum's classic book-turned-film The Wizard of Oz. The 1939 movie adaptation starred Judy Garland as Dorothy. At the time she made her Broadway debut in 1974, Mills was 17. (For her part, Bailey is not much older, at 23.)
The Wiz | "Ease On Down the Road" Performed by Diana Ross and Michael Jackson
Did Michael Jackson date Stephanie Mills?
BET shared a previous interview with V103 where Mills confessed that she and Jackson dated. “I loved Michael,” she said. “I thought that I was going to be Mrs. Michael Jackson, but I was ready at 20 and 21 to get married and he was not even close to getting married or having a girlfriend at the time, but yes we dated.
Her first marriage was with singer-songwriter Jeffrey Daniel. He is the founder member of the R&B vocal group Shalamar. The duo got married in 1980, and they officially separated in 1983.
Raimi was hired to direct the following year. After Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp declined the title role, Franco was cast in February 2011 with principal photography commencing five months later. Danny Elfman composed the film's score.
Did Judy Garland have a double in The Wizard of Oz?
Caren marsh doll was judy garland's body double in the wizard of oz. but don't be fooled by her age. she's still super active in the oz community. just last year she wrote the forward to the book the wonderful wizards of art.
Who was supposed to play the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz?
Bolger was originally cast as the Tin Man, and Buddy Ebsen would have been the Scarecrow. Bolger was able to persuade Louis B. Mayer to switch the roles, so not only did he get to sing "If I Only Had a Brain," but he also dodged that aluminum bullet!
Dorothy says to the Scarecrow, I'll miss you most of all. But fortunately for you, I never get sick of talking about it. So let's do it again. In the early drafts of the Wizard of Oz script, there was an innocent romance between Dorothy and Honk, the counterpart of the Scarecrow in Kansas.
9. "I think I'll miss you most of all." Thus Dorothy says goodbye to the Scarecrow. Why the strange partiality? Because, in an earlier draft of the script, Dorothy and the Kansas counterpart of the Scarecrow are sweet on each other.
While her male co stars made 2500. to 3000 dollars a week, Judy Garland made $500 a week. Her complete earnings for The Wizard of Oz in 1939. totaled to 9580 $3, about $209,000 today.
As conceived and written by Lyman Frank Baum in 1900, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" was a political allegory of turn-of-the-century America. Written in the waning days of the Populist movement of the late 1800s, it was the story of the sad collapse of Populism and the issues upon which the movement was based.
W. C. Fields was originally chosen for the title role of the Wizard (after Ed Wynn turned it down, considering the part "too small"), but the studio couldn't meet Fields' fee. Wallace Beery lobbied for the role, but the studio refused to spare him during the long shooting schedule.
Legend has it that a deal was almost made between MGM. and 20th century. to loan out Shirley Temple for the role of Dorothy, but in 1937. MGM had not yet acquired the rights to The Wizard of Oz.
Robert De Niro was born in New York City and grew up in Little Italy, the son of painters. He made his stage debut at the age of 10 playing the Cowardly Lion in a school production of The Wizard of Oz. By age 16, he had quit school and turned his attention to acting, studying under Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg.
