Casting director Marion Dougherty not only had an eye for talent, the department store window dresser-turned-Hollywood star-maker had the eye for talent.
But on August 16 at the Primetime Creative Arts Emmys, the Television Academy will turn the spotlight on to Dougherty — who cast such then-unknowns in her time as Warren Beatty, James Dean, Jack Klugman and even paired Carroll O’Connor with the role of Archie Bunker in groundbreaking series All in the Family — and posthumously honor her with the 2014 Governors Award.
The pioneering Pennsylvania native, who literally defined the role of the casting agent for both television and film, began her career in 1949 casting over 500 episodes of NBC’s Kraft Television Theatre. HBO aired the Emmy-nominated documentary Casting By on her career in 2013.
Dougherty's work on Kraft introduced many young performers who grew to become huge celebrities: Beatty, Dean, Klugman, Jack Lemmon and more.
She meanwhile went on to cast such popular shows as Naked City and Route 66, and ultimately established her own casting agency.
Not bad for Pennsylvania State University grad who had taken off to New York shortly after finishing college in 1943, dreaming of a career in set design, and earned $45 a week creating window displays for Bergdorf Goodman for a stretch.
Dougherty's gutsy, creative spirit drove her to think differently about how to discover the right performer for a given situation.
Whereas conventional casting called for summoning streams of the same type of actors to read for a role, she instead pioneered the approach of selecting a just a handful of very different performers who could present varying nuances and options to a director.
"I won't work on a project unless I appreciate the writing and the story and the characters," Dougherty said in an interview with scholar, author and screenwriter Andrew Horton. "When I read, it is always a good sign when an actor or actress I know pops into my mind as I read. Because I do, at that point, feel I know the character, I only need to bring in a very few candidates, not dozens."
This approach lead to such lofty discoveries as Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Martin Sheen, William Shatner, Christopher Walken, Robert Duval, Glenn Close and James Caan.
Among her greatest television moments, when Norman Lear approached Dougherty in 1969 to cast the pilot which later became CBS sitcom All in the Family, she fatefully recommended that Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton play the bigoted though somehow loveable blowhard Archie Bunker and Archie's better, sweeter half, wife Edith.
Undisputedly one of the greatest television programs of all time, Archie, Edith and family tread upon such then-controversial ground as women's liberation, homosexuality, racism, rape, breast cancer, the Vietnam War, among other hot-button topics. All in the Family checked in at number one atop the Nielson ratings for 5 of its 8 years on the air.
Juried Emmy Awards Also
Announced Today
Among other Primetime Emmy announcements today, the Academy announced the juried award winners for Outstanding Costumes for a Variety Program or Special and for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation. See complete list below:
Outstanding Costumes For A Variety Program Or A Special
Saturday Night Live • Host: Jimmy Fallon • NBC • SNL Studios in association with Universal Television and Broadway Video
Tom Broecker, Costume Designer
Eric Justian, Costume Designer
So You Think You Can Dance • Episode 1008 • FOX • Dick Clark Productions, Inc. and 19 Entertainment
Marina Toybina, Costume Designer
Grainne O'Sullivan, Costume Supervisor
Outstanding Individual Achievement In Animation
Adventure Time • Wizards Only, Fools • Cartoon Network • Cartoon Network Studios
Nick Jennings, Art Director
Disney Gravity Falls • Dreamscaperers • Disney Channel • Disney Television Animation
Ian Worrel, Art Director
Disney Mickey Mouse • ‘O Sole Minnie • Disney Channel • Disney Television Animation
Narina Sokolova, Background Painter
Disney Mickey Mouse • The Adorable Couple • Disney Channel • Disney Television Animation
Valerio Ventura, Background Designer
Long Live The Royals • CartoonNetwork.com • Cartoon Network Studios
Sean Szeles, Storyboard Artist
The Powerpuff Girls: Dance Pantsed • Cartoon Network • Cartoon Network Studios
Jasmin Lai, Background Painter
Robot Chicken DC Comics Special II: Villains In Paradise • Adult Swim • A Stoopid Buddy Stoodios Production in association with Stoopid Monkey and Williams Street
Cameron Baity, Animator
The Simpsons • Treehouse of Horror XXIV • FOX • Gracie Films in association with 20th Century Fox Television
Dmitry Malanitchev, Color Design Director
The Simpsons • Treehouse of Horror XXIV • FOX • Gracie Films in association with 20th Century Fox Television
Charles Ragins, Background Designer
Uncle Grandpa • Afraid of the Dark • Cartoon Network • Cartoon Network Studios
Nick Edwards, Character Designer
Governors and Juried Awards to be Presented During
the Creative Arts Emmys on Aug. 16
These juried honors, along with the Governors Award, will be bestowed during the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Saturday, August 16. The show will be produced by Spike Jones Jr. and
An edited version of the awards will be broadcast on FXM on Sunday, August 24 at 8pm ET/PT and 10pm ET/PT.
Additionally, the Creative Arts Emmys will be streamed as part of the Backstage LIVE show on Emmys.com at 12:00pm PT / 3:00pm ET on Monday, August 25 prior to the Primetime Emmy Awards preshow and Backstage LIVE.
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Juried Primetime Emmy Awards Procedures: The juried categories require each entrant to be screened by a panel of professionals in the peer group, with the possibility of one, more than one or no entry being awarded an Emmy. As a consequence, there are no nominees, but instead a one-step evaluation and voting procedure. Deliberations include an open discussion of the work of each entrant, with a thorough review of the merits of awarding the Emmy. At the conclusion of each deliberation, the jury votes on the question, “Is this entry worthy of an Emmy award – yea or nay?” Only those with unanimous approval win.
