[1][8][3] Stalmaster got his first job in show business as an actor, appearing in the war movies The Steel Helmet (1951), The Flying Leathernecks (1951),[9] and the TV series Big Town.
He was credited with casting more than 60 movies of the decade, among them; Fiddler on the Roof, Harold and Maude, The Cowboys, Deliverance, Rollerball, Silver Streak, Black Sunday, Coming Home, Convoy, The Rose, Superman and Being There.
[10][11] He was also a part of Academy Award winning movies such as In the Heat of the Night, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Right Stuff,[9] and Brian De Palma's The Untouchables.
[12] Stalmaster was the first casting director to receive credit on a separate card in the main titles of a feature film, starting with The Thomas Crown Affair in 1968.
[16] Two years later, the Casting Society of America began honoring entertainment professionals with the Lynn Stalmaster Award for Career Achievement.