1. - Stewart Granger, Scaramouche, 1952. Until the new Brit in town proved himself in King Solomon’s Mines, MGM had planned Lamas v Ricardo Montalban as the duelling De Maynes brothers. Latinomouche!

2. - Ricardo Montalban, Latin Lovers, 1953. Golden Hollywood rule - lose the girl and you lose the film! Lana Turner had Lamas axed as they were no longer lovers. He had been her co-star the year before in The Merry Widow, when she wore a bracelet to hide the scar from slashing her wrist when left by millionaire husband Bob Topping in 1951.

3. - James Mason, The Story of Three Loves, 1953. Naturally, Mason made a far better Jealous Lover in the segment with Moira Shearer.

4. - Rossano Brazzi, South Pacific, 1957. Broadway’s Emile De Becque - Ezio Pinza - died that year and stage-screen director Joshua Logan wanted Lamas to take over. However, he was committed to his own Broadway show, Happy Hunting.

5. - Antonio Vilar, La femme et le pantin (US: The Female; UK: A Woman Like Satan), 1958. Scared off by Brigitte Bardot. Or so goes the legend about The Last of the Red Hot Lamas.

6. - Patrick Macnee, Gavilan, TV, 1982/83. His terminal cancer meant he had to quit the series after a few episodes and be replaced by one of The Avengers (title of a 1950 Lamas film).