1. - Laurence Olivier, Bunny Lake Is Missing, 1965. “I’'ve been in a lot of pictures for various reasons,” comments Scott. “Some I wish to God I hadn’t turned down.”

2. - Eli Wallach, How To Steal A Million, 1966. Legend says he showed up late first day and veteran director William Wyler sacked him. “It’s the only time I’ve ever been fired from a film. I sued Fox and collected. Wyler never did speak to me after that. He wouldn't talk to me on the phone. I think it was personality. He didn’t care for me.”

3. - Alan Arkin, Wait Until Dark, 1967. Few actors wanted to be the guy terrorising Audrey Hepburn - indeed, a blind Audrey Hepburn! Director Terence Young wanted Scott but Audrey’s husband, Mel Ferrer, was producing

5. - Anthony Hopkins, Hamlet, 1969. Richard Harris’ plans to star and direct in Northumberland - with Scott as Claudius - were beaten by Tony Richardson’s plans in London.

6. - Martin Balsam, Catch-22, 1970. The colonel was rather like a clone of his Dr. Strangelove general, 1964.

7. - Robert Mitchum, Ryan's Daughter, 1970. Once Paul Scofield pulled out, felloe director Richard Lester says that David Lean wanted Scott because he admired Petulia so much (and wrote Lester a letter about how much it taught him in terms of editing!)

8. - Clint Eastwood, Dirty Harry, 1971.

9. - John Wayne, The Cowboys, 1971. “I’d really appreciate it if you gave me the chance to play this part, sir.” Actor-turned director Mark Rydell couldn’t believe it threw it. “I didn’t want him. I wanted George C. Scott. ! I was absolutely stunned by Wayne... completely seduced by him. I told him; “Let’s never talk politics, let’s just talk art.”

10 - Warren Beatty, McCabe and Mrs Miller, 1971. Fox bought the novel for Scott, Director Robert Altman wanted Elliott Gould and Pat Quinn. “One of my problems,” said Gould, “was I thought we should choose the leading lady together.”

11 - Marlon Brando, The Godfather, 1971.

12 - Robert Redford, The Hot Rock, 1972. UK director Peter Yates’ first casting idea: Scott and Redford. Once Redford read his pal William Goldman’s script, he wanted the lead - and persuaded George Segal to take his old role. Or, maybe Scott knew the UK title would, incredibly, become: How To Steal A Diamond In Four Uneasy Lessons.

13 - Gene Hackman, The Poseidon Adventure, 1972. “I should’ve done the fucking thing because I could’ve made a lot of money. But I’m just as happy that I didn’t. I saw that picture!”

14 - John Wayne, The Cowboys, 1972. Director Mark Rydell was voting Scott when Warners suggested Duke. “I was a Jewish liberal, rebel, left-wing kinda guy and I knew Wayne to be what he was... a strong right-winger, very much responsible for the blacklist in the 50s. Yet he was, indeed, one of the most gracious, charming, available, professional men I’d ever met.”

15 - Charles Bronson, Death Wish, 1974. “I’d have done it a lot differently. Although I admired what Charley did with it. I would've tried to get him to lean in a little different direction.”

16 - John Wayne, The Shootist, 1976. Scott was keen - as long as not one word of the script was changed. Duke was keener - and changed plenty, seeing that it could be - and was - a great end to one helluva career.

17 - Peter Finch, Network, 1976. Because  of some  feud with director Sidney Lumet, Scott refused to read the amazingly prophetic scenario about US TV programming.  “Television is not the truth. Television is a goddamned amusement park.” (Eons later, Rupert Murdoch’s  Fox network appeared to have  studied it).  The film’s Oscar-winning writer Paddy Chayefsky then suggested Cary Grant, Paul Newman, even old pals Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart,  for his “mad prophet of the airwaves,” Howard Beale (“I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.”). Finchey won  the first posthumous acting Oscar  (Ironically, the second was also for an Aussie,  Heath Ledger, for The Dark Knight... 33 years later). Scott’s last movie, Gloria, 1998, was helmed by... Lumet.

18 - Richard Burton, Equus, 1977. Burton beat all contenders by “auditioning” in the play on Broadway for a spell.

19 - Gregory Peck, MacArthur, 1977. One war hero was enough. “They finally got around to me, wisely,” said Peck.

20 - Dudley Moore, Ten, 1979.

21 - Alan Arkin, The Magician of Lublin, 1980. Announced by a pre-Cannon Globus & Golan at Cannes 1976.

22 - Robert Mitchum, That Championship Season, 1982. After James Cagney, Jason Robards, etc, Scott found himself on various lists... including the hit list of John Lennon’ assassin, Mark David Chapman.

23 - Richard Crenna, First Blood (aka Rambo), 1982.

24 - John Stanton, Tai-Pan, 1986. Refused it - twice. Once opposite McQueen and he also rejected an $8m offer for a two-film version. “But you know you’re going to be miserable, it’s not going to be a good experience: why do it? Life’s too short."

25 - Ian Holm, Another Woman, 1988. Woody Allen’s costume designer Jeffrey Kurland hand-delivered the script to Holm - and then took it back to New York (with Holm’s suit measurements). Ian heard that Scott had refused to even to read the script. “Which,” commented Holm, “quite surprisingly, I thought, meant he must have received one.”

26 - Charles Durning, Dick Tracy, 1990. Star and director Warren Beatty wanted him for Chief Brandon, and not the role of... Pat Patton!

27 - Robert Mitchum, Cape Fear, 1991. Scott’s ill-health made room for Mitchum - the villian in the 1962 version.

28 - Lloyd Bridges, Hot Shots, 1991. Fun idea. The Clouseau-esque Admiral Thomas ‘Tug’ Benson could not have been funnier with Patton as the “blustery, multi-war veteran whose various body parts have been systematically replaced after a series of illustrious combat injuries.” It started a whole new, Leslie Nielsen-esque career for Bridges in his 80s, including two prim spots on Seinfeld just before his 1998 death.

29 - Jason Robards, Magnolia, 1999. Scott threw the script at writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson. “This is the worst fucking thing I’ve ever read. The language is terrible.”

30 - Jeremy Irons, The Borgias, TV, 2010. The Italian Caligula director Tinto Brass told me he offered Pope Alexander VI to Scott long before  Irish director Neil Jordan got his film  off the ground  - as a TV  series.