10 Actors Who Were Robbed Of Iconic Movie Roles By Injury

9. Claudette Colbert As Margo Channing - All About Eve

All About Eve All About Eve is often considered to be one of the greatest movies ever made - indeed, it won six Oscars back in its day, and was nominated for 14 in all. And Bette Davis' turn as fragile Broadway star Margo Channing is often thought to be regarded as her best ever performance, despite the fact that she wasn't actually the original choice for the role. Nope: the honour of Margo Channing was actually supposed to go to actress Claudette Colbert, star of It Happened One Night. Unfortunately for Colbert, she injured her spine before shooting was about to begin, and was forced to pass on the role. Bette Davis, who at the time was coming off the back of several box office bombs, was cast as Channing, and... well, you know the rest of the story. She was nominated for an Oscar for her turn, and received overwhelming praise for her keen interpretation of an aged star (the role was in actuality rewritten to be more "abrasive" to better fit her own personality).
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Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.