What roles would deceased actors have been up for had they lived?

Marlene Dietrich would have made a great Catherine Tremell in Basic Instinct .

ETA: Not exactly sure how to interpret the question. I mean do we go by correct chronology or is there some leeway here?

From what I've heard...Paul Newman was the biggest beneficiary of James Dean's death.

So Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Hustler, HUD and Cool Hand Luke and Butch Cassidy might have all gone to Dean.

Newman didn't get his big break until 1958...3 years after Dean died, despite being 6 years older than Dean and in Hollywood longer.

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From what I've heard...Paul Newman was the biggest beneficiary of James Dean's death.

So Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Hustler, HUD and Cool Hand Luke and Butch Cassidy might have all gone to Dean.

Newman didn't get his big break until 1958...3 years after Dean died, despite being 6 years older than Dean and in Hollywood longer

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You seem to have have read a mixed up version of the story. Newman's big break came in 1956 w/ Somebody Up There Likes Me -- a role intended for Dean.

Listing roles Dean might have played is an amusing diversion. There are of course the Newman films, not just SUTLM but also The Left Handed Gun, which apparently was also intended for JD. I think Dean might have actually been more comfortable in The Hustler than Newman -- Dean did alienation better. But Newman was more charming and had the superior light touch, and was definitely better casting in Luke and especially Butch.

I can also see Dean in some McQueen films like The Cincinnati Kid, The Sand Pebbles, and Nevada Smith.

Maybe Bonnie and Clyde.