The Broadway cast of BORN YESTERDAY in 1946. Seems a shame that Paul Douglas and Gary Merrill didn’t make it into the film version, though, of course, Judy Holliday did.

The above photo shows Gary Merrill far right, Judy Holliday in the middle ,and Paul Douglas in the chair .

Douglas  and Merrill were replaced on screen by Broderick Crawford and William Holden.

Jean Arthur was originally cast in the stage production but left the show before it opened on Broadway, giving Judy Holliday the chance of a lifetime.

 

”Born Yesterday” ran for three years on Broadway and one of the replacement cast included Jan Sterling (wife of Paul Douglas) in the Judy Holliday role of ‘Billie Dawn’.

I’m not sure if Jan and her husband were in the show at the same time.

Paul Douglas did get to do a film with Judy Holliday – “The Solid Gold Cadillac.”

Thinking of Gary Merrill , one of his first films was TWELVE O’CLOCK HIGH , one of the best films of 1949 , and he proved what a fine actor he was in “All About Eve”, but never really got another  part equal to it.

 

 

 

He made the most of a (rare for him ) bad guy role in “Where The Sidewalk Ends”, as Tommy Scalise, the gangster with the sinus problem.

Gary Merrill (1915-1990) made two more films with his wife, Bette Davis – ANOTHER MAN’S POISON and PHONE  CALL FROM A STRANGER, but neither had strong scripts.

 

Gary mainly did TV in the 1950s and 60s. He played Dr. Gillespie in ‘Young Doctor Kildare’ for 24 episodes in 1972/73.

He continued working till 1980, on TV and on stage.

 

I only read recently that Merrill and Rita Hayworth were close for a number of years in the 1960s.