Alan Shayne (born November 21, 1925) is an American casting director, actor, and producer.

Alan Shayne
Born (1925-11-21) November 21, 1925 (age 99)
Occupation(s)Casting director, actor & producer
Years active1947–?
Spouse(s)Jacqueline Babbin (1947-1955)
Norman Sunshine (2004-)

Early life and career

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Shayne was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He started acting in theatre in the 1940s, where he encountered a young Marlon Brando in acting school.[1] He appeared in the Broadway plays Antony and Cleopatra (1947–1948) and The Madwoman of Chaillot (1948–1950). In 1958, he was in the multiple Tony-nominated Broadway musical Jamaica.[2] Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, he appeared in several television series such as The Philco Television Playhouse, Man Against Crime, and Kraft Television Theatre.[3] In 1953, he portrayed Bernardo in the TV film Hamlet.[4]

Having been encouraged by Michael Shurtleff, Shayne became a casting director in the 1960s. He recruited actors for films such as All the Way Home (1963), Johnny Belinda (1967), Catch-22 (1970), and All the President's Men (1976). In 1976, he became the president of Warner Bros. Television Studios, a position he held for ten years. He retired from the entertainment industry in the 1990s.[5]

Personal life

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Shayne served in the United States Army during World War II. Between 1947 and 1955, he was married to Jacqueline Babbin. In 2004, he married graphic designer and visual artist Norman Sunshine, who had won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Design at the 28th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1976. He is openly homosexual.[5] In 2023, he published his autobiography The Star Dressing Room: Portrait of an Actor.[6]

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1950 Masterpiece Playhouse Episode: "Othello"
1950 The Ford Theatre Hour Donatello Episode: "The Marble Faun"
1950 Lux Video Theatre Joseph Episode: "A Child Is Born"
1951 The Philco Television Playhouse Kid Episode: "Bulletin 120"
1951–52 Studio One Ross/Joseph of Arimathea Episodes: "Macbeth", "Pontius Pilate"
1951–1957 Kraft Television Theatre Joseph/Unknown Episodes: "Jane Eyre", "The Wren", "Justice", "A Child Is Born", "The Other Wise Man"
1952 Hallmark Hall of Fame Frederic Chopin Episode: "Prelude"
1952–53 Man Against Crime Bill Weaver/Abel Jackson Episodes: "Paradise Lost", "A Family Affair"
1953 Hamlet TV film
1965 The Trials of O'Brien Ned Wertimer Episode: "No Justice for the Judge"

References

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  1. ^ "Upstaged by Marlon Brando". The New Yorker. 20 May 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  2. ^ "Alan Shayne". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  3. ^ "ALAN SHAYNE: LIFE, LOVE AND THEATRE". Medium. 16 September 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  4. ^ "Big Hamlet Show Today Over WMCT". The Commercial Appeal. 26 April 1953. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Q&A: Memoir shares insight into life of film and TV guru Alan Shayne". The Columbus Dispatch. 15 November 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  6. ^ "The Star Dressing Room". Oldster Magazine. 17 July 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
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