Hollywood Casting Director Rich Dies
By WENNWednesday, January 13, 2010
Hollywood talent scout SHIRLEY RICH, who cast SEAN PENN, TOM CRUISE and JUDD HIRSCH early in their careers, has died. She was 87.
Rich, who worked in casting for Rodgers and Hammerstein and MGM and famed Broadway producer/director Harold Prince, died of natural causes on 28 December (09).
She also ran her own agency for three decades, Shirley Rich Casting.
Rich placed Hirsch in 1973 film Serpico and cast Penn and Cruise as military cadets in 1981 film Taps. She also cast actors James Spader, Edward Norton, Rod Steiger and Sada Thompson early in their careers.
On Broadway, she cast shows including South Pacific, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, The Kind and I, The Sign in Sidney Brustein?s Window and Sly Fox, among others. On film, she scouted talent for Saturday Night Fever, Three Days of the Condor, Kramer vs. Kramer and The Ballad of the Sad Cafe.
Rich is survived by her husband, Lewis M. Krohn, a son, Steven, and a daughter, Lisa.
