Editing Michael Rennie (section)

==Post-20th Century-Fox==
Rennie began his freelancing career supporting [[Cornel Wilde]] in ''[[Omar Khayyam (1957 film)|Omar Khayyam]]'' (1957) at Paramount. He returned to Britain to play the lead in a war film ''[[Battle of the V-1]]'' (1958). He was going to co-produce and star in a war film for [[Eros Films]] about bomb disposal experts, ''Getaway'', but it was not made.<ref>{{cite news |title=Rennie Twice to Star as Demolition Man; Mature's Lead Chosen |last=Schallert |first=Edwin |newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=5 October 1957 |url=https://latimes.newspapers.com/image/381186241/?terms=Mature%27s%2BLead%2BChosen |page=B3 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Scheduling conflicts meant he missed out on a role in ''The Vikings'' (1958), being replaced by James Donald.<ref>{{cite news |title=Carol Reed Here for Movie Talks: British Director to Discuss 2 Story Properties With Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Lanchester and Laughton of Local Origin |first=Thomas M. |last=Pryor |work=The New York Times |date=13 May 1957 |page=27 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/05/13/archives/carol-reed-here-for-movie-talks-british-director-to-discuss-2-story.html |access-date=19 August 2020 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

He had top billing in a mountaineering film for Disney, ''[[Third Man on the Mountain]]'' (1959), although he was really the support for [[James MacArthur]].

[[Irwin Allen]] gave him a leading part at Fox, casting him as adventurer Lord John Roxton in an adaptation of [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]]'s ''[[The Lost World (1960 film)|The Lost World]]'' (1960), a tale of a jungle expedition that finds prehistoric monsters in South America; the film also starred [[Claude Rains]], [[Jill St. John]] and [[Richard Haydn]]. Then, no longer bound by the no-television clause in his studio contract, he began his association with the medium.

===''The Third Man'' and ''Mary Mary''===
Rennie became a familiar face on television, taking the role of [[Harry Lime (character)|Harry Lime]] in ''[[The Third Man (TV series)|The Third Man]]'' (1959–65), an Anglo-American [[syndicated television]] series very loosely derived from the film. It ran for several years but the schedule meant Rennie had plenty of time off to work on other projects. "Every scene of every show I do for money", he said.<ref name="page"/>

At the start of the 1960s, Michael Rennie made his only [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] appearance in ''[[Mary, Mary (play)|Mary, Mary]]'' playing Dirk Winsten, a jaded film star. After two previews, the sophisticated five-character marital comedy written by [[Jean Kerr]] and directed by [[Joseph Anthony]] opened at the [[Helen Hayes Theatre]] on 8 March 1961. It ran for a very successful 1,572 performances, closing at the [[Morosco Theatre]] on 12 December 1964. Rennie stayed with the production less than five months and was replaced by [[Michael Wilding (actor)|Michael Wilding]] in July 1961.

When [[Warner Bros.]] cast the film version in early 1963, Rennie, along with leading man [[Barry Nelson (actor)|Barry Nelson]] and supporting actor [[Hiram Sherman]] (who joined the play two years after the opening in the part first played by [[John Cromwell (director)|John Cromwell]]), were the only Broadway cast members to carry over. [[Debbie Reynolds]] was given the title role created by [[Barbara Bel Geddes]], and Warner's contract player [[Diane McBain]], whom the studio saw as a potential star of the future, took over "the socialite part" essayed by [[Betsy von Furstenberg]]. [[Mervyn LeRoy]] produced and directed [[Mary, Mary (film)|the film]], which opened at [[Radio City Music Hall]] on 25 October 1963.

Rennie was cast in a lead role in the comedy play ''[[Any Wednesday (play)|Any Wednesday]]'' but left the project during out of town try outs. He was replaced by Don Porter and the play was a huge success.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/sonofanywednesda0000resn/page/14/mode/1up?|first=Muriel|last=Resnick|title=Son of Any Wednesday|year=1965|publisher=New York, Stein and Day }}</ref>