Gordon MacRae(1920-1986)

While appearing in a nightclub act with his wife at Lake Tahoe, he received an emergency phone call to replace Frank Sinatra as Billy Bigelow in the film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's stage hit "Carousel", after Sinatra walked out on the filming when he discovered that every scene was to be filmed twice - once for regular CinemaScope and once for CinemaScope 55. Within three days MacRae, who was already familiar with the Broadway show and had wanted to play the role, reported to the set. Ironically, the producers then discovered a way to shoot in CinemaScope 55 and then convert it to regular CinemaScope without filming the movie twice.

"Some of my friends have jokingly accused me of sticking pins into an image of Frank Sinatra or exercising some other kind of voodoo charm to get him out of the role of "Billy" in Karussell (1956) so that I could inherit the role. As most everyone knows by now, Frank did bow out of the picture. His decision on this matter, however, was reached without assistance--mystic, telepathic or otherwise--from me. But I always felt that I would end up with Billy. I wasn't surprised when my agent called to say that 20th Century-Fox wanted me for it. I was excited that, at last, it was mine, but I wasn't surprised".