There’s no mention of “The Conqueror” without a conversation about cancer deaths attributed to radiation exposure. I went down the list of 63 actors and stunt people listed on IMDB and made a table of their causes of deaths. No doubt some of the ‘undisclosed’ were cancer, but absent death certificates, all I have to go on is what is publicly available. With that, here’s how the numbers shake out (percentages rounded to even numbers):
| Cause of Death |
Number |
Percentage |
| Undisclosed |
26 |
41 |
| Heart disease/attack |
10 |
16 |
| Cancer |
9 |
14 |
| Still Living! |
6 |
10 |
| Stroke |
4 |
6 |
| Lung Disease |
3 |
5 |
| No information |
3 |
5 |
| Car accident |
1 |
1 |
| ALZ |
1 |
1 |
The “No information” was for the following actors, about whom I could find no info, dead or alive:
Pat McMahon
Bud Myers
Carl Vernell
Near as I could tell, these actors are still living:
Larry Chance 92
Barrie Chase 92 (Seymour’s dancing girlfriend in “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”)
Robert Hinkle 95
Sylvia Lewis 94
Nolie Miller (Fishman) 94
Patrick Wayne (86)
Feel free to poke holes in my findings. Always in search of ‘The Straight Dope.’
I mean this was literally the subject of an original Straight Dope column back in 1984. If it’s a coincidence, it’s quite the coincidence. It’s not a coincidence.
The original column mentions actors and crew members for a total of 220 people, not the 63 counted by the OP. And the original counts people who contracted cancer, not just those who died from it. Of the 220, “91 had contracted cancer as of the early 1980s and 46 died of it, including stars John Wayne, Susan Hayward, and Agnes Moorehead, and director Dick Powell. Experts say under ordinary circumstances only 30 people out of a group of that size should have gotten cancer.”
I listed actors only as those were people that could be pretty certainly on the set. Others, like editors (probably not) and producers (maybe, maybe not) .The 220 number is another puzzle, as IMDB lists about 100 total names associated with the film, credited and uncredited, so it would be interesting to see the source material for the 220 number.
The worldwide rate today of getting cancer in people’s lifetimes is 1 in 5. Back then, there was a LOT more smoking. It wouldn’t surprise me if the expected cancer rate back then was higher than 1 in 5, even without the bomb testing.
Agreed, finding the source is important: better take it up with Cecil! But a film crew is going to have gaffers and best boys and key grips and costumers and food servers and cleaners and tons more people, and some of those might well be spending more time in the open environment than actors.
Yeah, good luck with that! The source for the original 1980 article is Dr. Robert C. Pendleton from Utah, who joined the ranks of the departed in 1982.
But, the real question is: did he die from cancer? 