Steve Martin was offered the role of Rooster. He turned it down when he heard he would be working alongside Bernadette Peters. They were breaking up at the time, and he felt it would be too painful to work with her for several months.
Auditions for the title role spanned two years, 22 cities, 8,000 interviews, and 70 actresses. Nine young actresses made it to the second round.
Production designer Dale Hennesy died in the middle of production. Gene Callahan agreed to finish the movie, but refused to have his name listed in the credits, giving the credit to the late Hennesy.
In 2003 interview on the National Public Radio program "Fresh Air", Carol Burnett told interviewer Terry Gross that after filming wrapped, she had plastic surgery on her chin that significantly changed the appearance of her lower face. After the surgery, Ray Stark called her back in to re-shoot of part of "Easy Street." Burnett joked that Miss Hannigan went into a closet in her office, and emerged two months later with a different chin.
John Huston: The voice on Miss Hannigan's radio saying, "I love you, I love you, I love you," just before "Little Girls".