Films that could have starred Marilyn | THE STRIPPER (1963)

Some sources online incorrectly claim that the reason Marilyn was not in this movie was because she passed away. Joanne Woodward was cast as Lila as early as June 1962. Richard Beymer (Twin Peaks, West Side Story) was cast as the younger man.

In the book Dressing Marilyn: How a Hollywood Icon Was Styled By William Travilla by Andrew Hansford, he includes Travilla sketches that are said to be of Marilyn. A few of these may be, but some are definitely Joanne.

According to Julien’s Auctions the two sketches to the right are labeled as Joanne Woodward.

There are two more sketches in the book that COULD be inspired by Marilyn (below). They were not worn by Joanne in the film and look more like Marilyn – with a beauty mark and shorter hair. Maybe he sketched these at the beginning stages of planning while he believed Marilyn to be in it? This is all a guess of course.

Travilla was nominated for an Academy Award for his designs.

Buddy Adler purchased the film rights to a play called A Loss of Roses for Marilyn and Pat Boone.

The play was written by William Inge who also wrote Bus Stop. Because he felt anything written by Inge was sure to be a hit, Adler purchased the rights before the play had even opened (with terrible reviews).

They wanted Marilyn for the title role of Lila – an insecure and aging showgirl in an abusive relationship who wants to be an actress and falls in love with a younger man. I can see why she turned this down.

The film was known as “Celebration”, “Woman of Summer”, and eventually “The Stripper”. Both Marilyn and Pat turned it down.