Jimmy Stewart did not want to do It’s a Wonderful Life. The lead actor had returned from spending 15 months in World War II combat as a pilot and was considering quitting acting. He initially said a film about suicide was the last thing the country (and he, as someone dealing with PTSD) needed, but he reluctantly agreed. It’s a Wonderful Live ended up re-launching his acting career.
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Buddy Ebsen, the original Tin Man, had to abandon the role after being hospitalized due to an allergic reaction to the aluminium powder in his makeup. But that's nothing compared to what happened to Margaret Hamilton, the Wicked Witch. She suffered first and second degree burns during the scene when the witch leaves Munchkinland in a blaze of flames. Her green facepaint was copper-based and highly toxic: so had to be painfully removed from her burned flesh with alcohol.
Alien: Resurrection (1997)
Who needs movie trickery? That killer moment in the fourth Alien flick finds Ripley kicking serious butt on the basketball court. When she throws the ball behind her as she's walking away, it disappears off screen for a split second, then swishes straight into the net. Sigourney Weaver really does it in one.
Jack Lord of Hawaii Five-0 and Dr No(Felix Leiter) withdrew from public life later because he was devastated to be losing his good looks as he got older. He was 41 when he played Felix Leiter.
James McArthur who played Danny Williams(Dan-O) in Hawaii Five-0 had a famous mother-one of the Snoop Sisters, Helen Hayes.
Comic actor David Jason was actually chosen to play the role of Lance-Corporal Jones in Dad's Army but hours later he lost out to Clive Dunn who specialised in playing old men. Jason also could have been a member of the Monty Python Team as he had started in the children's show Do Not Adjust Your Set with Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Eric Idle, who went on to form the team.
Thorley Walters and Jon Pertwee were both considered for the role of Captain Mainwaring (both turned it down) before it was offered to Arthur Lowe, who was originally considered for the role of Sgt Wilson.
Chris Harris of TOP GEAR fame along with Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff appeared on BBC Breakfast to reveal that for the next series Top Gear would be moving to BBC1 - no date released yet but it was made official by the controller of BBC1 Charlotte Moore on BBC mediacentre website.
When the makers of the original Doctor Doolittle(with Rex Harrison) were in a small English village which would double as Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, a certain soon-to-be Polar explorer and would-be James Bond, Sir Ranulph Twistleton Wickham-Fiennes was incensed at them damming up a river and so he decided he would blow up the set and even set charges. However, someone squealed on him and he was arrested.
Rocky (1976) There's a scene when Rocky Balboa points out a mistake in the poster at the match venue, and it was in fact entirely unscripted. Sylvester Stallone was forced to add the line because the art department made a genuine mistake when producing the prop, making the Italian Stallion's boxing trunks completely the wrong colour. Although, it does work to signify how Rocky isn't treated with much respect as an underdog.
Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)
Did you know, in order to make Obi-wan look bedraggled and desert-worn, Alec Guinness adopted a special type of method acting. Before shooting a single scene, he donned Kenobi's signature robes, laid on the Tunisian desert floor and rolled around so his costume would acquire that weathered, lived-in look.
The Great Escape (1963)
The cast of this WWII classic - and Christmas Day TV staple - includes one genuine WWII Prisoner of War. During the conflict Donald Pleasence, who plays RAF Flight Lieutenant Colin Blythe, had been shot down at a raid on Agenville and imprisoned for a year in a Stalag Luft, where he produced and acted in plays.
Die Hard (1988)
The Nakatomi building where the '80s action unravels wasn't a back-lot somewhere. It's actually the Fox Plaza, 20th Century Fox's recently-built headquarters. So, more or less, director John McTiernan and Bruce Willis are getting paid handsomely to destroy their bosses' new home