Biography

Marion Dougherty was born on February 9, 1923 in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, USA. She was a casting director and producer, known for Lethal Weapon (1987), Conspiracy Theory (1997) and The Last Boy Scout (1991). She died on December 4, 2011 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.

Was the first casting director to receive single-card screen credit

One of the first actors she cast was James Dean

The documentary Casting By (2012) is predominantly devoted to her life and career featuring interviews with many major stars, some of whose careers were kick-started by Dougherty.

Dougherty graduated from Pennsylvania State University, and went to New York hoping to be a set designer. Instead, she earned $45 a week designing windows at Bergdorf Goodman.

Owned Marion Dougherty Associates, a casting agency.

I never was a great devotee of the Actors Studio. When kids said they were going to the Studio, I said, "OK, absorb everything you can; throw away 95% of it and keep the 5% that pertains to you, and try other things also".

[1991, interview with The Miami Herald] No casting director can truly say, "I knew he was gonna be a star"--because that's a bunch of baloney. Casting is a game of gut instinct. You feel their talent and potential in the pit of your stomach. It's about guts and luck.