Marion Caroline Dougherty (February 9, 1923 – December 4, 2011) was an American casting director. She is known for casting films such asThe World of Henry Orient,Midnight Cowboy,Me, Natalie,Panic in Needle Park,Grease,Urban Cowboy,The World According to Garp, andBatman.

Marion Dougherty is also the primary subject ofCasting By, a 2012documentary, combining over 230 interviews, extensive archival footage, animated stills and documents to tell her untold tale. Dedicated to her memory, Dougherty died before the film's release.

Dougherty attendedPenn State University, where she was a member ofKappa Alpha Theta.^[1] Dougherty's career in theperforming arts began when, after graduating from Penn State in 1943, she had a brief stint working at theCleveland Playhouse as an actress. She then moved toNew York City, just as live television was becoming mainstream. She was making window displays at theBergdorf Goodman Building when a fellow Penn State alum, who had been recently hired into the casting department atKraft Television Theatre, hired her as an assistant.^[2]

In 1991, many prominent filmmakers and actors, includingClint Eastwood,Woody Allen andAl Pacino, attempted to convince theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to grant an honorary award to Dougherty. Unfortunately this dream of recognizing her was never accomplished, before her death in 2011.^[3]

After working at the Kraft Television Theatre, Dougherty moved on to another television series,Naked City,^[4] where she gaveJon Voight^[5] andDustin Hoffman^[6] their first acting credits. While working on this show and another,Route 66,^[7] Marion was able to feature many notable guest stars such asTina Louise,^[8]Michael Parks,^[9]Jean Stapleton,^[10]Jessica Walter,^[11]William Shatner,^[12]Joan Crawford,^[13]Christopher Walken,^[14]Gene Hackman,^[15]Martin Sheen,^[16] andRobert Duvall.^[17]

In 1963 Dougherty established her own casting company in New York, where she began casting local talent out of the theaters.^[2] Dougherty became notable for her casting decisions, choosing to cast based on their acting abilities, as opposed to type casting based on appearance.^[3]

Out of her brownstone, Dougherty worked on many Hollywood films, includingThe World of Henry Orient,Hawaii, andMidnight Cowboy.^[2] In 1972 with the release ofSlaughterhouse-Five, Dougherty made history as being one of the first casting directors to receive an entire title card to list their credit.^[2] From 1979 to 1999, Dougherty worked atWarner Brothers as the Vice President of casting.^[18]

Other notable actors that Dougherty gave their first film credit to includeGlenn Close inThe World According to Garp,^[19]Bette Midler inHawaii,^[20] andAl Pacino inMe, Natalie.^[21]

• Marion Dougherty atIMDb
• Casting By atIMDb

• 1923 births
• 2011 deaths
• American casting directors
• American women casting directors
• Pennsylvania State University alumni

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