for a noteworthy performance." Claudette Colbert (the star of DeMille's Cleopatra), Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Rosemary DeCamp, Irene Dunne, Merle Oberon, and Alexis Smith were considered for the role of Bithiah, before DeMille chose Jayne Meadows (who declined) and finally cast Nina Foch, on the suggestion of Henry Wilcoxon, who had worked with her in Scaramouche. For the role of Memnet, Flora Robson was considered, and Bette Davis was interviewed (DeMille's casting journal also notes Marjorie Rambeau and Marie Windsor), but DeMille chose Judith Anderson after screening Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca. Heston's newborn son, Fraser (born February 12, 1955), was cast by DeMille (on the suggestion of Henry Wilcoxon, who said to him: "The timing's just right. If it's a boy, who better to play the Baby Moses?") as soon as Heston announced to DeMille that his wife Lydia was pregnant. Fraser Heston was three months old during filming. Henry Wilcoxon's wife, Joan Woodbury, was cast as Korah's wife in the Golden Calf sequence. DeMille was reluctant to cast anyone who had appeared in 20th Century Fox's The Egyptian, a rival production at the time. Several exceptions to this are the casting of John Carradine and Mimi Gibson (in credited supporting roles) and Michael Ansara and Peter Coe (in uncredited minor roles), who appeared in both films. For the large crowd shots, at least 14,000 extras and 15,000 animals were used while filming The Ten Commandments. Art direction Commentary for the film's DVD edition chronicles the historical research done by DeMille and associates. The man who designed Moses' distinctive rust-white-and-black-striped robe used those colors because they looked impressive, and only later discovered that these are the actual colors of the Tribe of Levi. Arnold Friberg would later state that he was the one who designed Moses' costume. As a gift, after the production, DeMille gave Moses' robe to Friberg, who had it in his possession until his death in 2010. Moses' robe as worn by Charlton Heston was hand-woven by Dorothea Hulse, one of the world's finest weavers. She also created costumes for The Robe, as well as textiles and costume fabrics for Samson and Delilah, David and Bathsheba, and others. Jesse Lasky Jr., a co-writer on The Ten Commandments, described how DeMille would customarily spread out prints of paintings by Lawrence Alma-Tadema to inform his set designers on the look he wanted to achieve. Arnold Friberg, in addition to designing