American Beauty (1999 film) "American Beauty" to the fledgling DreamWorks studio, which bought the script for $250,000, outbidding several other production bodies. DreamWorks financed the $15 million production and served as its North American distributor. "American Beauty" marked theater director Mendes' film debut; courted after his successful productions of the musicals "Oliver!" and "Cabaret", Mendes was only given the job after 20 others were considered and several A-list directors turned down the opportunity. Spacey was Mendes' first choice for the role of Lester, though DreamWorks urged him to consider better-known actors; similarly, the studio suggested several actors for the role of Carolyn until Mendes
Kate Lester Crosman, Julia Marlowe, Margaret Anglin and even James J Corbett. Her first silent features were in 1916. The film titles are "Molly Make-Believe", "Destiny's Toy", "The Social Secretary", "The Kiss", and "A Coney Island Princess". Lester's last films were released in 1925. They are "The Meddler", "Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman", and "The Price of Pleasure". She attained initial success in "emotional" roles. She began to develop her "grand dame" line of characters when her hair turned white prematurely. Lester died from burns she sustained during an explosion inside her dressing room at Universal Studios in Hollywood in 1924. She was