This is hard, Mambo Deb. I, too, enjoy re-casting films for the fun of it, so I was taken with your idea of re-casting Mad Men with actors from 1960. However, as I started thinking of different actors and actresses, it became hard to find just the right ones at just the right (approximate) ages.

This is my first list, but I may revise it, as I am not entirely happy with it:

Bert Cooper > William Powell
Joan H. > Edie Adams or Tina Louise
Peggy Olsen > Dolores Hart
Betty Draper > Janet Leigh or Kim Novak
Roger Sterling > Robert Cummings or Eddie Albert
Don Draper > William Holden

As I said, my problem is with the ages of the characters. I wanted Van Johnson for Roger Sterling, but I think in 1960 Van Johnson would have been too young to play Roger.

Again, great thread, Mambo Deb.

Bert Cooper > Jimmy Stewart
Joan H. > Natalie Wood or Ann-Margret
Peggy Olsen > Sally Field or Goldie Hawn
Betty Draper > Kim Novak
Roger Sterling > Robert Redford
Don Draper > Steve McQueen

Interesting post Mambo Deb! ;o) Here's my take on recasting MM characters:
Don Draper - Clark Gable
Roger Sterling - Dean Martin
Betty Draper - Shirley Jones
Joan Halloway - Ann Margaret
Peggy Olson - Patty Duke
Pete Campbell - Jerry Lewis
Bert Cooper - Alfred Hitchcock
It's a start...Cheers! ;o)

Great choices so far. Love Robert Cummings as Roger, Steve McQueen as Don and Shirley Jones as Betty. I'm still working on mine; you guys are good, I'll have to work extra hard. Zerelda, I think Van Johnson have been old enough to be Roger.

Mebbe Troy Donohue as Pete. 4got to add that one.

Elvis might have been a pretty good Pete Campbell, also -- he was coming into his own as an actor, too.

I think I want to add Eva Marie Saint to my list as Betty and drop Kim Novak. Still pondering on the other character choices. That age thing is still bothering me on the men. I am still working on Pete, Ken, Paul, Sal and Freddy.

Interesting premise.

In recasting You've Got Mail- That has Rock Hudson-Doris Day-Tony Randle-Debbie Reynolds written all over it. I can see a movie screen split four ways with all of them talking on the phone at the same time. Wait wasn't that Pillow Talk ?

Don Draper- Burt Lancaster- leading man looks, intellectual depth, subtle acting

Betty Draper- Tippy Hedron- beauty, intellegence, angst and rage in a tightly wound blonde ball.

Roger Sterling- Dean Martin (agree with D&S)- charm and dissipation

Bert Cooper- Peter Ustinov or John McGiver- Grandfatherly presence, wise counsil and on the edge of dementia

Joan Holloway- Anne Margaret or Jayne Mansfield or Julie London / drop dead 50's beauty combined with emotional fragility and surprising depth and intelligence

Peggy Oslen- Natalie Wood or Barbara Eden- naivete and innocence

Pete Campbell- Tony Randle, Tony Franciosa, Tony Curtis-- slick, coniving, young, good looking, arrogant, but also has good heart and instincts

Salvatore Romano- Charles Nelson Rielly We know he is Gay, but the other characters do not.

Rachel Menken- Elizabeth Taylor- the ultimate "Other Women".

Love all the casting so far!

I have a few that I went out on a limb on & some (the best choices are already taken...some I agree with here)

Don Draper - William Holden (agree with several of you on that one) or Robert Wagner

Roger Sterling - Dean Martin (no one cooler or wittier or more charming...I agree with D&S and rl1856 on this one)

Betty Draper - Hope Lange or Tippi Hedren (agree with rl1856 on her)

Pete Campbell - Richard Chamberlain or Audie Murphy (looks like VK--but think he has the acting ability to pull off the scumbag element as well)

Peggy Olson - Sandra Dee

Salvatore Romano - Tony Randall or Paul Lynde

Joan Holloway - Jill St. John or Ann Margret

I agree that Elvis would be good somewhere in the bunch, but can't decide who to cast him as.

(Remember how Barbra Streisand wanted him for her co-star in her remake of "A Star Is Born" but the Colonel wouldn't let him???!!!---I think he would have been great---better than Kris Kristofferson, anyway)

Wow, Great casting you guys..
How about: Don = Gregory Peck (THE Man in the Gray Flannel Suit) ~ Pete= Frank Sinatra ~ Peggy = Lynn Redgrave ~ Bobby= Ron Howard ~ Midge= Audrey Hepburn ~ Joan = Ann Margaret ~ Jack Lemmon= Roger ~ Ken = Micheal Cane.
That's it for now.

Bill Holden would make a great Don Draper, but I also think Kirk Douglas could do it nicely.
Roger could be Friedrich March.
Jane Russel as Joan (a brunette could pull it off)
Peter Lorre as Pete--that's just a joke, but it kind of works, doesn't it?

Some of these choices are great! Here's what I've got so far, with a few I just can't decide on, mainly Peggy. I want someone perfect for her. I'll update and I may change a few.

Don - Paul Newman, gorgeous, deep, not afraid to be rotten
Betty - Dorothy Provine, gorgeous, fragile, powerless
Roger - Kirk Douglas, mean and arrogant
Mona - Angela Lansbury, regal, but not quite gorgeous enough for Roger and knows it
Bert - Hume Cronyn, wise and warm, seen it all
Peggy - ??
Joan - Stella Stevens, luscious and more smarts than she's aware of
Sal - Anthony Perkins, conflicted, conflicted, conflicted
Harry - ??
Pete - Keir Dullea, W.A.S.P. with an edge
Ken - George Hamilton, more comical way to go or Warren Beatty, just plain gorgeous, both ladies men
Jane - Natalie Wood, beautiful, young and can be manipulative
Paul - ??
Bobbie Barrett - Lauren Bacall, smarter than anyone else in the room, but willing to risk it all
Jimmy Barrett - Ernie Kovacs, almost as smart as his wife
Rachel - Susan Strasberg, classy and cautious
Midge - Carolyn Jones, wacky and adorable, but scary at the same time
Duck - Tony Franciosa, just barely hanging on and desperate

Well, that's all I have for now. I'm still searching for my Peggy!

Mambo Deb, What a great idea for a thread!

The following actors and actresses may now audition for a part in Mad Men!

Don Draper - Robert Redford, Paul Newman
Betty Draper - Grace Kelly, Lee Remick, Dina Merrill
Anna Draper - Julie Andrews
Roger Sterling - Gig Young, Cary Grant
Joan Holloway - Ava Gardner, Sophia Loren (with red hair and dropping the accent), Jayne Mansfield
Pete Campbell - Frank Sinatra, Tony Randall, Jack Lemmon
Trudy Campbell - June Allyson
Bert Cooper - Lionel Barrymore, Spencer Tracy
Rachel Menken Katz - Patricia Neal, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Hepburn, Jane Fonda
Peggy Olson - Audren Hepburn (short haircut instead of pony tail), Patty Duke, Sally Field
Midge Daniels - Diane Keaton, Ali MacGraw
Salvatore Romano - Liberace, Rock Hudson
Jimmy Barrett - Chevy Chase
Bobbie Barrett - Faye Dunaway

Mambo Deb:

Carolyn Jones indeed had one of those "free spirit" type roles -- remember "Hole In The Head", starring Frank?

She had some type of beatnik/mother earth type role. :)

Anybody recall that actress, Zina (Xena?) Bethune who was on some TV show about nurses in the '60's and also in the original "M.A.S.H." movie?

She might make a good Peggy.

Oops...it was Indus Arthur in the original "M.A.S.H" movie, not Zina Bethune.

Which leads me to think about Sally Kellerman, the original "Hot Lips"...she'd be good in MM as either Bobbie Barrett or Midge Daniels.

I do indeed remember "Hole in the Head". And what was that song about the rubber tree plant, oh yes, "High Hopes".

Once there was a little old ant
Thought he'd move a rubber tree plant
Anyone knows an ant can't...move a rubber tree plant......

couldn't resist.....

whatever happened to Eddie Hodges, I wonder....?

haha, yeah, and the chair that hit everybody in back of the head, except for Frank. hehe

This is a tough one. Good Thread Mambo Deb!
Joan- Ann Margaret is a dead ringer. That's good
Peggy - was Hailey Mills too young? Sally Fields
Betty - Grace Kelly
Bobby Barrett - Anne Bancroft or Lauren Bacall
Jane- Audrey Hepburn or Leslie Caron
Don - I agree with Redford or Newman
Sal- Yes, Rock Hudson
Rachel - Susan Haywood
Sally-Tatum Oneal
Bobby - Jerry Matthers
I'm not too sure about this one, but that's my take on it.

Peggy - Debbie Reynolds
Paul -Lee J Cobb
Don - Marlon Brando

So many good choices so far!
I also like Steve McQueen as Don(with dark hair)
(he's got the eyes..)
Betty - Tippi Hedron is perfect (Hitchcockian)
Bobby Barrett - I agree totally on Anne Bancroft
Pete - Tony Curtis (a la "Sweet Smell of Success")
Roger - Burt Lancaster
Bert - Spencer Tracy
Joan - Tina Louise (perfect!)

So right about Steve McQueen...he's got that look out of his eyes, for sure.

And as for Anne Bancroft (the classic cougar!)
can't you just see Don asking:

"You're trying to seduce me, Mrs. Barrett......aren't you???"

What about the actor in "A Summer Place?" Was it Richard Egan? How about him for Don Draper?

What about Anne Francis as Joan or Jane?

Joey Heatherton would have been a good Joan, also.

I think I've done this about 10 times, but...okay. My list keeps changing anyway.

Don Draper - Paul Newman, Laurence Harvey or James Garner
Betty Draper - Lee Remick (or for a kooky bit of stunt casting, the original January Jones, heh)
Peggy Olson - Mia Farrow
Pete Campbell - Robert Morse, Russ Tamblyn or Robert Wagner
Roger Sterling - Frank Sinatra
Joan Holloway - Edie Adams or Jill St. John
Salvatore Romano - William Hopper or Tony Randall
Harry Crane - Dick York or John Astin
Paul Kinsey -
Ken Cosgrove - Ryan O'Neal, Dennis Hopper or Troy Donahue
Duck Phillips - Gig Young
Bert Cooper - John Huston or John Houseman
Mona Sterling - Nina Foch
Alice Cooper - Agnes Moorehead
Midge Daniels -
Rachel Menken - Claire Bloom or Joan Hackett
Bobbie Barrett -
Jimmy Barrett - Joey Bishop, Jerry Lewis or Alan King
Glenn Bishop - Billy Mummy
Bobby Draper - Ron Howard
Sally Draper - Patty McCormack
Sheila White - Barbara McNair
Carla - Cicely Tyson

I was thinking that the entire Rat Pack could be in the cast of Sterling Cooper. Can you see them all hanging out in Don's office drinking and smoking? And of course they would be making fun of Pete Campbell the entire time! Cheers! ;o)

I can dig it, D&S!

Imagine the fantastic "soundtrack" coming out of Don's office when Dino decided to croon!

"When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, That's Amore!"

Yeah, SCfan! Then Frank starts belting out "I Did It My Way"...seems like it would be an appropriate Don Draper theme song, huh? Cheers! ;o)

This is a fabulous topic!

Can anyone think of somewhere we could stick a young Woody Allen and/or a young George Carlin?

Absolutely! How about as the two young guys the agency brought in and made all the others feel threathened? Woody Allen and George Carlin, what a great team.

And here are my last few in addition to my cast members above:

Peggy - Sandy Dennis, at SC she's a square peg in a round hole, has to rely on her brains not her looks
Freddy - Lloyd Bridges, washed up but still lovable and with a core of strength
Harry - Martin Milner, eager and vulnerable
Paul - Robert Vaughan, imperial and acts like he's slumming all the time
Sally Draper - Lauren Chapin, bless her heart (as we say in the south), she didn't get her parent looks
Bobby Draper - Clint Howard, Leon from Mayberry, need I say more

Dino and Frankie...what a dream soundtrack to the workday, huh?

Geo. Carlin and Woody Allen? A match made in Heaven...great casting!

Little Leon from Mayberry...well, at least he was generous...always offering everyone that passed by a bite of his P&B sandwich.

Why not Carlin as Salvatore Romano? Carlin is hip, cool and a real artsy type.

Maybe Woody Allen as Harry Crane.

This is a fun topic Mambodeb. I actually play this game with myself. I compare people I know to who they resemble as actors or the new hollywood stars to their older counter parts.

How about Sean Connery as Don Draper?

Neat idea, Chelsea;;;;

Remember Don in his white dinner jacket (with Betty in her turquoise number)?

Reminded me of James Bond/Sean C. (he's the ONLY James Bond in my mind) sitting at the roulette table lighting his cigarette and saying his classic line: "Martini...shaken not stirred."

sigh......

Okay, here's my re-casting for MadMen

Don Draper - Warren Beatty
Roger Sterling - David Wayne
Bert Cooper - William Powell
Duck Phillips - Robert Ryan
Pete Campbell - Tony Curtis
Paul Kinsey - Wally Cox
Ken Cosgrove James MacArthur

Betty Draper Natalie Wood
Mona Sterling Donna Reed
Peggy Olsen - Teresa Wright
Joan Holloway Shelley Winters
Midge Daniels - Lee Remick

Didn't read anyone else's cast until after I did mine. Someone else picked William Powell for Bert, and I loved Bill Holden as Don. Elizabeth Taylor for Rachel Menken was dead-on. I left out a whole slug of characters. Oops! Great exercise.

Of course, most of my pics are when the actors were young except Powell and Ryan. See Winters and Taylor in A Place in the Sun, Remick in Anatomy of a Murder or Wright in The Best Years of Our Lives and Reed's From Here to Eternity for their age/look that I'm thinking of.

Jamm54, I love your selections. I, too, chose William Powell for Bert Cooper. Robert Ryan as Duck is perfect, as is Lee Remick as Midge. Great inspired choices! If only we could assemble these folks and stage our own Mad Men performance - how great would that be?

Yeah, especially when I think of Shelley Winters in Kubrick's Lolita, she was originally quite the sexpot/floozie. Taylor is a perfect fit for Rachel Menken. And Lee Remick is stunning as the sexy Army wife in Anatomy of a Murder. Either George C. Scott or Lee Marvin would work very well in the role of Duck Phillips.

Also, Gena Rowlands would've been perfect for Betty Draper, i.e. Lonely Are the Brave from 1962.

jamm, you should be a Casting Director!

Let's face it, all of you have had really good choices, I think. This is the neatest thread, isn't it?

You are so right about Shelley W.,jamm,...always perfect as the floozie/hooker. Caught her in "Alfie" the other night and she pulled it off (pun intended) perfectly. I think I recall her as Paul Douglas' mistress in "Executive Suite", too.

I keep thinking Sterling Hayden would be good as somebody in MM...but I can't put my finger on it...maybe Duck or even Roger? I loved him in everything he was in.

A friend of mine had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Winters a long time ago -- she was in a local theatre presentation of The Effect of Man In The Moon Marigolds (etc).

My friend and her group of friends went backstage and knocked on her dressing room door. Ms. Winters answered door and was gracious enough to talk and sign autographs.:)

A friend of mine had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Winters a long time ago -- she was in a local theatre presentation of The Effect Gamma Rays on Man In The Moon Marigolds.

My friend and her group of friends went backstage and knocked on her dressing room door. Ms. Winters answered door and was gracious enough to talk and sign autographs.:)

A friend of mine had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Winters a long time ago -- she was in a local theatre presentation of The Effect Gamma Rays on Man In The Moon Marigolds.

My friend and her group of friends went backstage and knocked on her dressing room door. Ms. Winters answered door and was gracious enough to talk and sign autographs.:)

What a neat story, MadMenSuze.

I always thought Shelley W. seemed like such a down to earth woman who would appreciate her fans.

I remember her as Mrs. Rosen in The Poseidon Adventure and that scene underwater where she saves Gene Hackman's character from drowning and ends up dying of a heart attack from the stress.

I always thought she was such a good actress.

I think I heard somewhere back there that she taught classes in acting in her later years.

She was also funny as Roseanne's grandmother on her TV show.

Hey Jamm54 I can see a Teresa Wright of the Best Years of Our Life in MM. Especially when they did the retro retro thing with Don selling cars. Or Teresa Wright in a Shadow of Doubt. She is my number one pic for Peggy Olson. Smart and Sensible. Senisble enough to overcome a minor glitch of unwed motherhood to be exact.

Dana Andrews----another one from "The Best Years of Our Lives"--- would be good as Don.

He has the "smooth" and "cool" factors covered anyway.

I absolutely love Teresa Wright. Anything she did (Best Years of Our Lives, Little Foxes, The Men, Shadow of a Doubt, Pride of the Yankees), she was great in.

There are so many actresses of the past who were not big stars, and have slipped from the public's attention because we don't see their early movies very often, but who were very good like Lee Remick, Teresa Wright, Shelley Winters, etc.

SCfan: Sterling Hayden would be great as Bert Cooper or even Clifton Webb (though he might be a little too acidic as Bert). Webb would've probably been perfect as Duck Phillips: aging, bitter, calculating.

SCfan: Shelley Winters was in this awful movie called Dirty Mama with Robert DeNiro and a couple of others. I think Scoreses wrote/directed it. Anyway, I think the story goes that some of these up-and-comers like DeNiro, etc. took acting lessons from her. She was a big proponent of "the Method" for getting into character, hence gaining weight or whatever the role demanded to bring realism to your portrayal of the character.

SCfan: Sorry, it was Bloody Mama 1970, directed by Roger Corman. Also starred Robert DeNiro, Bruce Dern, Diane Varsi, and Don Stroud. It was your classic drive-in movie (like The Trip & Hell's Angels '69) - some of the garbage we'd catch in the late '60s-early '70s. I miss drive-in theaters! I once went to a dusk-to-dawn triple bill of Gone with the Wind, How the West Was Won, and Ryan's Daughter!

Shelley Winters, what a gal. Have you read her autobiography? I don't think she kept anything back. Apparently Burt Lancaster was the big love of her life, but it did not keep her from having a tryst with William Holden every year on Christmas Eve for many years - kind of a "same time, next year" thing. She said she couldn't understand a word Michael Caine said when they were filming "Alfie", so she just waited 'til he stopped talking and said her lines. Of her many marriages she said all she got from them was some jewelry and a recipe for ravioli. There is also the story of when she was on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and the English actor, Oliver Reed, said something she did not like so she poured a glass of water over his head. Shelley Winters - what a gal.

Interesting stuff about Shelley...I'll have to read that autobiography, z. Sounds like my kinda gal.

Wow...wouldn't it be fun, Z, if we could somehow reach through our computer screens and pour a couple glasses of water over....well, you know.

; - D

I liked Shelley Winters, I know she was your classic no bullshit kind of "broad" whenever I saw her on tv or read an interview with her. Very down-to-earth and unpretentious. I just watched an old movie of hers, Phone Call From a Stranger with Gary Merrill and Michael Rennie on hulu.com.....wasn't too bad, either.

I didn't know Burt Lancaster was the love of her life! Wasn't she married to Tony Franciosa and Vittorio Gassman? I think I read her autobiography a long, long time ago - will have to pick it up again. I miss alot of the old stars, and alot of the character actors, too.

I think I heard or read once that she was roomies with Marilyn Monroe, too.

Is that right?

zerelda, I own the movie, Alfie which I bought a couple of years ago because I was too young to see it when it came out. Loved it - couldn't understand half of Michael Caine's dialog either, his Cockney accent was so thick! It really should've had subtitles.....great movie, tho. Always associate it with Blow Up because of the era (i.e. Swingin' Sixties London).

yeah, jamm...didn't you love the part where Michael C. shows up unannounced at Shelley's apt. and she's entertaining that young guitarist and their exchange there in the doorway after he opens it and finds the young chap there in her bed?

Classic...."he's younger than you are.....Get It???"
She's great!

Oh...as I recall that comment of hers was preceeded by: "What's he got that I ain't got?"

She told him!

Shelley Winters, the precursor of today's cougar in Alfie.

My favorite Shelley Winters role is Mrs. Charlotte Haze from Lolita. I've always been fascinated by that movie because it's a pretty touchy subject (Humbert Humbert is a predator, after all), and yet Kubrick filmed it so skillfully as love, obsession and infatuation, even though the object of his attentions is only 14 years old!

Jon Hamm on SNL (as James Mason--your Lolita reference, jamm, made me think of it!)

"Say...where are the whores?"

hee

SCfan did you say you like smores?

Yeah, Chelsea...got any?

Are they good with John Ham??