By Dorothy Foster
Correspondent
CHARLESTON, Tenn. — Although Carolyne Harris knew about the casting call for a 5-year-old girl to play a role in the movie “Wild River,” she paid little attention because her daughter Judy already was 7.
Only a chance meeting in the post office changed her mind when the assistant director of the 1960 film noticed the little blonde girl by her mother’s side. The movie needed someone to play actress Lee Remick’s daughter, so he told Mrs. Harris to investigate a part for Judy.
“She really favors Lee,” the assistant director told her.
After Judy tried out, she asked director Elia Kazan if she still could watch the filming even if she wasn’t in the movie.
According to Mrs. Harris, the Oscar-winning director said:
“Judy, if you can keep a secret, you’re going to be in my movie. Not only that, I’ll have you a little chair made so you can sit by me.”
“Although we were in awe of Mr. Kazan, we really appreciated him,” Mrs. Harris said. “He was very kind and didn’t shout at the actors. We stayed in touch for years.”
During the making of the movie, Judy — now Judy Spurgeon — said she wasn’t on set except for her scenes and was able to go to school during the filming.
“I had small speaking parts,” she said. “After the director explained the scene, we’d do a walk-through, then begin filming. Sometimes the scene got shot in one take; sometimes it took 15. We didn’t do anything in sequence, and I didn’t even know the story.”
All the people on set were extremely nice — Ms. Remick gave her a doll, and star Montgomery Clift bought her a string of suckers, she said. And though she was offered opportunities to be in more movies, her parents decided she needed a childhood instead of a childhood career.
She never acted again, but took all forms of dance — jazz, tap, toe, ballet — was a majorette and a Young YWCA leader. After college at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga she became an accountant.
Today, Mrs. Spurgeon has two restaurants in Charlotte, N.C., called Eddie’s Place Restaurant. She also has a full family life with her husband, three sons and three granddaughters.
“Making this movie was a unique opportunity,” she noted, “but I went on to other things.”
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