'In this day and age'...it's an interesting point...
I note that the original post mentions the CV of an actor with false credits *from the 1970's*, and I think this throws an interesting sidelight onto this thread.
At drama school, I remember being told by one of my tutors (a good actor, and a wise tutor both) about some of the ups and downs of his acting career, which had been at its height in the 60's and 70's. He told a variety of cautionary anecdotes about how, as a young man, he had frequently 'embellished the truth' about what skills he possessed, and ridiculous antics ensued on set when it was discovered that he, in fact, couldn't drive the motorbike, etc. that he had earlier claimed to be able to. It certainly provided him with some material for funny stories forty years later, but what struck me at the time, and still does, is that he doesn't seem to have got into severe trouble because of it. His career certainly didn't grind to a halt.
Now, before anyone suggests that I am making the case for the fact that lying on your CV is unimportant, my point is actually how very different attitudes were in the industry thirty of forty years ago. I have met actors of that generation who almost seem to have felt it a *necessary* step to have been 'economic with the truth' on their CV's in order to get a first foot in the door as a stuggling actor. And, I suppose, this seems understandable: taking into account the fact that in those days, Equity was a closed shop (meaning you couldn't act profesisonally without an Equity card, but to get an Equity card, you had to have appeared in a certain number of Equity rate productions - so that actors being taken on surreptitiously and flouting Equity regulations was always happening). There are even stories of that era in which an actor was caught out by a wily director or casting director, found to be lying about a production they had been in, and their sheer chutzpah and determination in searching for the opportunity and bring themselves to the company's attention, won the casters over, and they got the job!
I think what often happens when young actors of our generation lie on CV's is that they are taking a leaf out of the books of their own tutors, mentors etc. who tell them these kinds of stories about how you have to 'make your own luck' in the industry. But this is to ignore the fact that it is no longer the same industry, and all the 'sympathy' for any actor who is trying to 'embellish the truth' in order to get seen has evaporated. There are many reasons for this, but one of the major ones is that the industry now has far too many people in it looking for jobs - even a benevolent casting director does not want to have to feel the responsibility to help any 'actor in need' to get a break - their jobs are now rendered far easier if they are whittling down the number of suitable candidates, not increasing their number - so they look for any easy way to blacklist a name, dismiss it from their shortlisting, and a false credit is one obvious discrepancy they can pick up on. It labels you 'untrustworthy' and no-one wants an actor who can't be trusted nowadays - end of story.
We also live in an age where wasted time is money, and where everyone is fearful for their own job security. You couldn't have a situation like the one my drama teacher told me about today which wouldn't prove absolutely ruinous for a career - were you to lie about skills you don't possess and then balls things up on set, you would probably be blacklisted for all time, as the sheer amount of money that would be riding on you getting things right is phenomenal compared to what it once would have been. You might not even get to the stage of being cast, as casting directors are now so anxious for their own next job that they simply cannot afford to take a chance on anyone they feel even remotely uncertain about.
For all of these reasons, there is no longer any sense in lying on a CV - lies will be found out (because our databasing systems etc. are so much in advance of anything forty years ago), they will never stand you in good stead, but will serve as a stick that you can be beaten down with, and, what is more, modern casting directors will be more inclined to check and double-check any claims you make in the first place. This is partly because it is more than their own job is worth not to do this; it is also because there were less specialised casting directors around in the 60's and 70's. The job of the CD is to source actors, and make sure they are bona fide, primarily so the director doesn't have to worry about it. It was all very different thirty of forty years ago.
