Missing In Action - The Women Behind Television's Golden Age

    > Mary Ahern
    > Annette Bachner
    > Barbara Claman
    > Judy Crichton
    > Marion Dougherty
    > Phyllis Adams Jenkins
    > Rhoda Mann-Winkler
    > Virginia Raymond
    > Lynn Sackler
    > Barbara Schultz
    > Lela Swift
    > Ellen M. Violett



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Marion Dougherty was a legendary casting director whose brilliant career started with her work in New York television in the 1940s.

For eight years she was the uncredited casting director on the acclaimed, live Kraft Television Theatre, and then she cast gritty filmed dramas, Naked City and Route 66. During those years she started many important New York actors’ careers (including James Dean, Robert Duvall, and Dustin Hoffman). Dougherty was the first to establish a casting office in New York City.

Coming out of New York television drama, Dougherty changed American film. She flouted the old Hollywood system that used stock characters, casting with her own nuanced sense of authenticity and individuality.

Eventually, Dougherty went West with the television and film industry. She made her mark on countless films, launching the careers of generations of actors who are now household names.

Marion Dougherty died on December 4, 2011 in New York City. Read her New York Times obituary here.

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