Timelines for year 1955
Mickey Rooney
Originally came to Hollywood to audition for "Our Gang" (aka "The Little Rascals" ), but didn't get in.
Joanne Woodward
Mother of actress Melissa Newman, whose namesake was the character portrayed by Woodward in Count Three and Pray .
Walter Matthau
Screen-tested for the part of Richard Sherman in The Seven Year Itch . After seeing his test, director Billy Wilder believed he had found his leading man. Unfortunately, executives at 20th Century Fox were unwilling to take a risk on an unknown newcomer. Because of this, the role went to Tom Ewell, who had originated the role on Broadway.
John Carpenter
Is a fan of the Quartermass movies (The Creeping Unknown , Five Million Years to Earth ), wrote Prince of Darkness under the pseudonym of Martin Quatermass, and the village in In the Mouth of Madness is named after a rail station in "Quatermass and the Pit".
Ingmar Bergman
10 of his films are listed in the 5th edition of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (edited by Steven Jay Schneider). He is the third best represented director (behind Alfred Hitchcock and Howard Hawks) and has the greatest number of writing credits on that list of any screenwriter. On the list are the films Smiles of a Summer Night , The Seventh Seal , Wild Strawberries , Through a Glass Darkly , Winter Light , Persona , Hour of the Wolf , Shame , Cries and Whispers and Fanny and Alexander .
Gary Cooper
Was considered for the role of Richard Sherman in The Seven Year Itch .
Was considered for Robert Mitchum's role in The Night of the Hunter .
Although he had said long ago that he would make no more biopics, he signed for The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell . It was a poor Otto Preminger film and even Mitchell's widow expressed disappointment with Cooper's performance. Possibly the story had appealed to Cooper on political grounds and Mitchell may have been a hero of his - the general who accused the government of neglecting military needs. Cooper went on Ed Sullivan's TV show to promote the film and home viewers were quite disappointed - David Shipman referred to Cooper's "effeminate mannerisms in his TV interviews".
By June 1955 he had made 80 films from which the studio's earned $250 million and he only earned $6 million in salary and percentages.
Elvis Presley
He did not pass an audition for CBS TV's "Talent Scouts" (March 1955) just 9 months before his successful debut on "Stage Show" on the same network.
In the fall of 1955, he appeared in a Rock N Roll documentary "The Pied Piper of Cleveland" filmed in various locations in the Cleveland area, mainly Brooklyn High School. The film headlines many top acts of the day including Bill Haley and The Comets. Pat Boone, The Four Lads and others. This film has yet to be released. It is reportedly the property of Polygram International and in the Universal vault.
He unsuccessfully auditioned for CBS TV's " "Talent Scouts" (March 1955) nine months before his successful debut on "Stage Show".
Some of his favorite movies were Rebel Without a Cause , The Magnificent Seven , Bullitt and Dirty Harry .
Prior to being signed by RCA in November 1955, Elvis was known as "The Hillbilly Cat" in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.
He named his favorite films as: Rebel Without a Cause , A Streetcar Named Desire and Dirty Harry .
His television debut was on the regionally telecast Louisiana Hayride (TV), 5 March 1955 in Shreveport, Louisiana.
In September 1955, "Country Song Roundup" magazine was the first to feature an article on Elvis, calling him a "folk music fireball".
Howard Stern
Married college sweetheart Alison Stern (b. 25 May 1955) at Temple Ohabei Shalom in Brookline, Mass.