Producer/Director George Englund was married to Cloris Leachman from 1953 to 1978, when they divorced. However, they remained close friends, and knew in advance that he wanted to cast Cloris for the role of Sister Eugenio.
In her book, Cloris Leachman wrote about her costar Suzanne: 'She and I were not intimate friends, but we were fellow travelers in the acting world. We knew it's in and outs. We'd run into each other at parties at one of the networks, and we'd always have a wonderful exchange. Suzanne had her own special sparkle. Sometimes she seemed tough, but that was in the outside. Inside was a dear, dear person, a girl I loved.'