Barbara Dodd Remsen, Actress and Casting Director, Dies at 88
The Hollywood Reporter
By Mike Barnes
The Hollywood Reporter
By Mike Barnes
April 18, 2018
She appeared on 'Leave It to Beaver' and 'The Dick Van Dyke Show,' then helped Tom Selleck, Tea Leoni and Kevin Costner get roles.
Barbara Dodd Remsen, an actress turned casting director who helped boost the careers of Tom Selleck, Tea Leoni, Kevin Costner, Pierce Brosnan and others, has died. She was 88.
Remsen died March 8 in Los Angeles, her daughter Kerry Remsen Cates announced.
Her late husband was Bert Remsen, a character actor who entered the casting profession after he suffered severe back and leg injuries when he was struck by a crane while on the set of the 1964-65 ABC comedy No Time for Sergeants.
Bert Remsen had an office at Raleigh Studios, where he worked as the head of Aaron Spelling Casting at 20th Century Fox. His wife, who had appeared on such series as Leave It to Beaver, Gunsmoke and The Dick Van Dyke Show, joined him there, then launched Remdin Casting with another former actor, Dick Dinman.
She received three Artios Awards over the next three decades while helping the likes of Selleck, Leoni, Costner, Brosnan, Vince Vaughn and Billy Bob Thornton build their acting résumés.
"She had a belief system about people and actors, that we were all possible if we could be found," Leoni said in a statement.
Barbara Dodd was born on New Year's Day in 1930 in Somerville, New Jersey. She graduated from Rutgers University, worked as a page for NBC and appeared in a hair commercial.
She came to Los Angeles and signed with a talent agency, and in 1957 she appeared as a librarian on an episode of Leave It to Beaver. She went on to work on Johnny Staccato, Wendy and Me, The Fugitive, Bewitched, Mod Squad, S.W.A.T. and other shows.
She was acting again more recently and showed up on The Pretender, According to Jim and Modern Family and in the film Employee of the Month (2006).
Bert Remsen, her husband of 40 years, eventually returned to acting after his accident, becoming a favorite of director Robert Altman. He died in April 1999 at age 74.
In addition to Kerry, Remsen is survived by another daughter, Ann; son-in-law Scott; and grandchildren Meg and Nicholas.
She appeared on 'Leave It to Beaver' and 'The Dick Van Dyke Show,' then helped Tom Selleck, Tea Leoni and Kevin Costner get roles.
Barbara Dodd Remsen, an actress turned casting director who helped boost the careers of Tom Selleck, Tea Leoni, Kevin Costner, Pierce Brosnan and others, has died. She was 88.
Remsen died March 8 in Los Angeles, her daughter Kerry Remsen Cates announced.
Her late husband was Bert Remsen, a character actor who entered the casting profession after he suffered severe back and leg injuries when he was struck by a crane while on the set of the 1964-65 ABC comedy No Time for Sergeants.
Bert Remsen had an office at Raleigh Studios, where he worked as the head of Aaron Spelling Casting at 20th Century Fox. His wife, who had appeared on such series as Leave It to Beaver, Gunsmoke and The Dick Van Dyke Show, joined him there, then launched Remdin Casting with another former actor, Dick Dinman.
She received three Artios Awards over the next three decades while helping the likes of Selleck, Leoni, Costner, Brosnan, Vince Vaughn and Billy Bob Thornton build their acting résumés.
"She had a belief system about people and actors, that we were all possible if we could be found," Leoni said in a statement.
Barbara Dodd was born on New Year's Day in 1930 in Somerville, New Jersey. She graduated from Rutgers University, worked as a page for NBC and appeared in a hair commercial.
She came to Los Angeles and signed with a talent agency, and in 1957 she appeared as a librarian on an episode of Leave It to Beaver. She went on to work on Johnny Staccato, Wendy and Me, The Fugitive, Bewitched, Mod Squad, S.W.A.T. and other shows.
She was acting again more recently and showed up on The Pretender, According to Jim and Modern Family and in the film Employee of the Month (2006).
Bert Remsen, her husband of 40 years, eventually returned to acting after his accident, becoming a favorite of director Robert Altman. He died in April 1999 at age 74.
In addition to Kerry, Remsen is survived by another daughter, Ann; son-in-law Scott; and grandchildren Meg and Nicholas.
DODD, Barbara
Born: 6/15/1930, Somerville, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Died: 3/8/2018, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Barbara Dodd’s western – actress:
Gunsmoke (TV) – 1957 (waitress)