Stacy Keach on Col. Kane and Nicol Williamson

The real reason Keach replaced the late Nicol Williamson as Col. Kane:

Ironically, I was the lucky benefactor of a Nicol tantrum in the late '70s.

William Peter Blatty had cast him as Killer Kane in The Ninth Configuration (also known as Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane), and the film was being shot in Budapest, Hungary. Nicol was staying at the Budapest Hilton, and was allegedly trying to make an international phone call when, presumably, something the operator did or said infuriated him, causing him to rip the phone out of the wall and toss it through the plate-glass window of his suite. Nicol was fired, and I was hired to play the role. It was a great part, and I often reflected on how Nicol would have played certain moments during the filming.