Rose Tobias Shaw (September 7, 1919 - October 27, 2015) was a Polish-American casting director.

Early life

Born to a Polish Jewish family in Stuttgart, she left a shtetl near

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...

and immigrated as a child with her parents and sister, to

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Initially embarking on a career as a dancer, she was engaged briefly to Broadway director and choreographer

Jerome Robbins Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. Among his nu ...

and later married

Maxwell Shaw Maxwell Shaw (21 February 1929 - 21 August 1985 in London, England) was an actor, known for ''The Barber of Stamford Hill'' (1962), '' Once More, with Feeling!'' (1960) and ''BBC Sunday-Night Theatre'' (1950). He is best remembered for his televis ...

, an actor.

Career

In New York City, Tobias worked as a fashion consultant for an advertising agency before joining CBS and then Talent Associates. Around 1961, she married the British actor

around 1961 after settling in the UK and then worked for

Lew Grade Lew Grade, Baron Grade, (born Lev Winogradsky; 25 December 1906 – 13 December 1998) was a British media proprietor and impresario. Originally a dancer, and later a talent agent, Grade's interest in television production began in 1954 ...

's company. Her credits include the British televisions shows '' Danger Man'' (US: ''Secret Agent''), '' The Prisoner'' and ''

Man in a Suitcase ''Man in a Suitcase'' is a British television private eye thriller series produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment. It originally aired in the United Kingdom on ITV from 27 September 1967 to 17 April 1968. ABC broadcast episodes of ''Man in a ...

''. In 1969, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' reported that Tobias Shaw had recently refused to become a producer because it would mean competing directly with men. "We are responsible to a man and I'd rather it were that way", she told a journalist from the newspaper and expressed a dislike of female bosses. Her film credits include '' Madhouse'' (1974), ''

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution ''The Seven-Per-Cent Solution: Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D.'' is a 1974 novel by American writer Nicholas Meyer. It is written as a pastiche of a Sherlock Holmes adventure, and was made into a film of the same na ...

'' (1976), ''

Equus Equus may refer to: * ''Equus'' (genus), a genus of animals including horses, donkeys and zebras * ''Equus'' (play), a play by Peter Shaffer * ''Equus'' (film), a film adaptation of the Peter Shaffer play * Equus (comics), a comic book characte ...

'' (1977), ''

The Wild Geese ''The Wild Geese'' is a 1978 war film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and starring Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris, and Hardy Krüger. The screenplay concerns a group of mercenaries in Africa. It was the result of a long-held ambit ...

'' (1978), Otto Preminger’s last film, '' The Human Factor'' (1979), '' Lassiter'' (1984), '' The Jewel of the Nile'' (1985), '' The Last Temptation of Christ'' (1988) and ''

Escape Victory Escape or Escaping may refer to: Computing * Escape character, in computing and telecommunication, a character which signifies that what follows takes an alternative interpretation ** Escape sequence, a series of characters used to trigger some so ...

'' (1981). During her career, Tobias Shaw was reportedly responsible for discovering Kim Novak, George C Scott, and

Elliott Gould Elliott Gould (; né Goldstein; born August 29, 1938) is an American actor. He began acting in Hollywood films during the 1960s. Elliott's breakthrough role was in the ''Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' (1969), for which he received a nomination f ...

. In the 1980s, Tobias Shaw became known as the "Queen of the Mini-series" for her casting of performers for television projects.

Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (; born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He is best known as the fifth actor to play secret agent James Bond in the Bond film series, starring in four films from 1995 to 2002 (''GoldenEye'', ''Tomorrow ...

appeared on screen for about a minute in ''

The Long Good Friday ''The Long Good Friday'' is a 1980 British gangster film directed by John Mackenzie from a screenplay by Barrie Keeffe, starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren. Set in London, the storyline weaves together events and concerns of the late 1970s, ...

'' (1980), as a man kidnapped by the

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

, but Tobias Shaw was able to assist Brosnan in gaining a significant role in the American mini-series ''

Manions of America ''The Manions of America'' is a 6-hour mini-series for American television made in 1981. The subject of the series were Irish immigrants to the United States during the Great Famine of the mid-19th century. It was directed by Joseph Sargent and ...

'' (1981) as a result. Tobias Shaw received a

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

lifetime achievement award ("Career in the Industry") in 1987, and was described by the

British Federation of Film Societies The British Federation of Film Societies (BFFS), which has used the trading name Cinema For All since 2014, is the national organisation for the development and support of the film society and community cinema movement in the United Kingdom. In ...

as a 'veteran of the business' and 'one of the best known casting directors'.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tobias Shaw, Rose 1919 births 2015 deaths American people of Polish-Jewish descent American casting directors Women casting directors Polish emigrants to the United States