[Ads-l] Antedating of "Casting Couch"

[Ben Zimmer]

The Miami News cite appears as copy on the front flap of the 1929 book _
Hangover: A Novel of Broadway Manners_ by Max Lief, as can be seen here:

https://www.biblio.com/book/hangover-dust-jacket-title-continues-novel/d/1478960908

I refer to this in my article on the "casting couch" cliche for The
Atlantic (Oct. 16, 2017):

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/10/casting-couch-the-origins-of-a-pernicious-hollywood-cliche/543000/
archived non-paywalled link: https://archive.is/UTq6B

I also refer to the 1924 silent stag film, _The Casting Couch_:

https://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/C/CastingCouch1924.html

More on Barry Popik's page, also from Oct. 2017:

https://barrypopik.com/blog/casting_couch

--bgz

On Wed, Oct 14, 2026 at 9:12 PM Shapiro, Fred <
00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> casting couch (OED 1948)
>
> 1929 Miami Daily News 13 Oct. 5/5 (Newspapers.com)
>
> From the beminked show girl to casting-couch producer — the ladder is long.
>
>
>

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