Lynn Stalmaster, the Oscar-winning casting director whose eye for talent helped launch the careers of John Travolta, Christopher Reeve, Richard Dreyfuss and many other actors, has died. He was 93 years old.
Stalmaster became the first person to receive an Oscar for casting when he accepted an honorary Oscar for Life in 2016. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has long resisted special recognition for casting directors, and Stalmaster was brought in. in tears.
“It’s not just an Oscar for me, it recognizes the major contribution of the casting,” he said.
He began his acting career, appearing with John Wayne in the 1951 film “Flying Leathernecks,” but wanted a backup plan. He was an apprentice to a couple of TV producers who made him casting director.
Stalmaster was looking for stars for shows such as “Gunsmoke” and “Ben Casey,” when director Robert Wise used him to cast supporting actors in a 1958 film starring Susan Hayward, “I Want to Live!”
Stalmaster opened its independent casting office right at the end of the Hollywood contract studio system, which allowed actors and directors a new freedom of choice in choosing their projects. Stalmaster did his business to meet every young performer in Los Angeles and New York and traveled to the United States and Europe to find new talent.
Stalmaster has distributed over 200 films, including “The Graduate,” “The Roof Fiddler,” “Harold and Maude,” “Tootsie,” “Release,” “Being There,” the Nuremberg Trials, and “The Right Things.” He also worked on a documentary about casting directors, “Casting By,” his title, a reference to how Stalmaster and his colleagues were credited in movies, as opposed to being called “casting directors.”
“A pioneer of our craft, Lynn has been a pioneer with over half a century of world-class film and television distribution credits,” the Casting Society of America said in a statement. “Thank you, Lynn, for showing us the way.”
Born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1927, Stalmaster said his father gave him the confidence to become an actor.
“Imagine my father – he was in the Supreme Court in Nebraska – fathers don’t want their sons to be actors,” he said. “But he said, ‘I want to go to the Abbey Theater.'”
Due to his acting experience, Stalmaster often read in front of actors he hoped to cast to highlight their best performances.
“I could look them in the eye and play the stage,” he said in a 2016 interview. “And I’ve probably played more roles than any other actor in history – and women!”
He suggested to Travolta what became his breakout role: Vinnie Barbarino in the sitcom “Welcome Back, Kotter.” Other actors who can thank Stalmaster for his early roles in the film include Dreyfuss, who had a single line-up in “The Graduate” from 1967, as well as Jon Voight, James Caan, Martin Landau and Jeff Bridges.
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Former Associated Press writer Sandy Cohen has compiled biographical material for this obituary.