Humphrey Bogart Warner Bros. wanted to cast the then much better known Edward G. Robinson for the film adaptation; however Leslie Howard, who played the protagonist in both the play and the film, insisted on Bogart being given the part. His breakthrough came in 1941 when his performances in "High Sierra" and "The Maltese Falcon" made him a star. His first true romantic lead role came in 1942's "Casablanca", breaking his typecasting as a gangster. He and Lauren Bacall starred together in "To Have and Have Not" (1944). After they married, she also played his love interest in "The Big Sleep" (1946),
Humphrey Bogart Coast Guard Reserve. Bogart resumed his friendship with Bill Brady, Jr., whose father had show business connections. Bogart got an office job, working for William A. Brady Sr.'s new company, World Films. Bogart wanted to try his hand at screenwriting, directing and production, but excelled at none. For a while he was stage manager for Brady's daughter Alice's play "A Ruined Lady". A few months later he made his stage debut as a Japanese butler in Alice's 1921 play "Drifting", nervously speaking one line of dialog. Several appearances followed in her subsequent plays. While Bogart had been raised to believe