year old ONeal in 1973. At the time, ONeal was the bigger  star, having also garnered a Best Actor Oscar nomination for "Love  Story". However, Kubrick apparently offered the part to Redford  first, but he turned it down, and thus ONeal was cast. Redfords  star would soon eclipse ONeals, as he would zoom to the top of the  Box Office charts the next year after the successes of  _Sting, The (1973)_ (qv) and _Way We Were, The (1973)_ (qv),  clocking in at #1 in 1974, a position he also would anchor in 1975  and 1976. ONeal dropped off the Top 10 list after 1973. His 73  appearance to this day, represents his sole appearance on that  premier barometer of box office success for a thespian.