On this day in 1938, actress Tallulah Bankhead auditions unsuccessfully for the role of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind.

Searching for the right Scarlett, producer David O. Selznick auditioned scores of actresses during a two-year period. Among them were Lana Turner, Susan Hayward, and Jean Arthur. Filming finally began in December 1938, but without an actress to play Scarlett. Several days after the shoot began, English actress Vivien Leigh auditioned and won the part.