Alan Shayne (born November 21, 1925) is an American

casting director In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra to land the role of a character in a script, screenp ...

, actor, and producer.

Early life and career

Shayne was born in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

on November 21, 1925. He started acting in theatre in the 1940s, where he encountered a young

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cinema actors of the 20th century,''Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia''

in acting school. He appeared in the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

plays ''Antony and Cleopatra'' (1947–1948) and ''

The Madwoman of Chaillot ''The Madwoman of Chaillot'' (, ) is a play, a poetic satire, by French dramatist Jean Giraudoux, written in 1943 and first performed in 1945, after his death. The play is in two acts. The story concerns an eccentric woman who lives in Paris and ...

'' (1948–1950). In 1958, he was in the multiple Tony-nominated Broadway musical ''

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

''. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, he appeared in several television series such as ''

The Philco Television Playhouse ''The Philco Television Playhouse'' is an American television anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the ...

'', ''

Man Against Crime ''Man Against Crime'' (also known as ''Follow That Man'') starring Ralph Bellamy, one of the first television programs about private eyes, ran on CBS, the DuMont Television Network and NBC from October 7, 1949, to June 27, 1954, and was briefly ...

'', and ''

Kraft Television Theatre ''Kraft Television Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series running from 1947 to 1958. It began May 7, 1947, on NBC, airing at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday evenings until December of that year. It first promoted MacLaren's Impe ...

''. In 1953, he portrayed Bernardo in the

TV film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a terrestr ...

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

. Having been encouraged by

Michael Shurtleff Michael Shurtleff (July 3, 1920, in Oak Park, Illinois – January 28, 2007, in Los Angeles, California) was a major force in casting on Broadway during the 1960s and 1970s. He wrote ''Audition'', a book for actors on the audition process. He als ...

, 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 ''Catch-22'' is a satirical war novel by American author Joseph Heller. It was his debut novel. He began writing it in 1953; the novel was first published in 1961. Often cited as one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century, it ...

'' (1970), and ''

All the President's Men ''All the President's Men'' is a 1974 non-fiction book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, two of the journalists who investigated the June 1972 break-in at the Watergate Office Building and the resultant political scandal for ''The Washingto ...

'' (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.

Personal life

Shayne served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 This is a list of the winning and nominated programs of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Design presented for the best main title sequence in television programming. Prior to 1997, the award was presented for Outstanding Indivi ...

at the

28th Primetime Emmy Awards The 28th Primetime Emmy Awards were handed out on May 17, 1976. The ceremony was hosted by John Denver and Mary Tyler Moore. Winners are listed in bold with series' networks in parentheses. The top show of the night was ''Mary Tyler Moore'' whic ...

in 1976. He is openly

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

. In 2023, he published his autobiography ''The Star Dressing Room: Portrait of an Actor''.

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shayne, Alan 1925 births Living people American casting directors American stage actors American male television actors American television producers LGBTQ people from Massachusetts