# Films where actors died during filming. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 17, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495 "2007-04-17T17:22:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495/41 "2007-04-17T22:32:44Z")
[QUOTE=ArchitectChore] Did any of those mentioned above (with the exception of Brandon Lee and Vic Morrow) actually die on the movie set? [/QUOTE] Not a death, but in filming the scene in **Doctor Zhivago** where a woman with a baby runs alongside the train while trying to get aboard, the actress was dragged under the train and, I believe, lost a leg. The shot was actually used in the film, though from the camera’s angle (inside the car) you only see her fall (not the results). ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495/42 "2007-04-17T22:33:47Z")
See [“fake shemp”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fake_shemp) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495/43 "2007-04-17T22:39:13Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Similarly, pilot Paul Mantz was killed while flying the plane for the 1965 Flight of the Phoenix. Yes, and he was killed doing a second take, no less. > [@bouv](#): > > Didn’t the original Wicked Witch of the West die in The Wizard of Oz? As **Zev** said, she died much later, and got to do commercials (Maxwell House?). But she was pretty badly burned during the early scene where the witch disappears in a cloud of smoke. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495/44 "2007-04-17T22:47:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Not a death, but in filming the scene in Doctor Zhivago where a woman with a baby runs alongside the train while trying to get aboard, the actress was dragged under the train and, I believe, lost a leg. The shot was actually used in the film, though from the camera’s angle (inside the car) you only see her fall (not the results). > > * * * Not true. Snopes covered this: > **[Dr. Zhivago Stunt Death](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dr-zhivago/)** > > Did a stuntwoman lose her legs while performing a scene for 'Dr. Zhivago'? ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495/45 "2007-04-17T22:48:19Z")
River Phoenix died 11 days before the end of principal photography on the film “Dark Blood” – the film was never completed. He was also set to play the interviewer in “Interview With The Vampire”, which was recast with Christian Slater. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495/46 "2007-04-17T22:57:00Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Not true. Snopes covered this: > **[Dr. Zhivago Stunt Death](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dr-zhivago/)** > > Did a stuntwoman lose her legs while performing a scene for 'Dr. Zhivago'? [/QUOTE] Sorry, but it **is** true true that the woman fell and was injured. She did not lose a leg (says Snopes), but as I said, I was uncertain on that point. From [IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059113/trivia): > [@](#): > > The lady that Zhivago tries to get onto the train after grabbing her baby actually fell under it and was injured. That shot was also used in the film, though we only see her fall down. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495/47 "2007-04-17T23:11:14Z")
> [@](#): > > [Dr. Zhivago Stunt Death | Snopes.com](http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/zhivago.htm) Sorry – your post doesn’t say you were uncertain. ---
**Author:** ![Critical\_Mass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Critical\_Mass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical_Mass)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495/48 "2007-04-17T23:22:18Z")
In 1986, stuntman [Dar Robinson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dar_Robinson) drove off a cliff and died while filming a stunt for the movie Million Dollar Mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Skipper\_Too](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Skipper\_Too](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skipper_Too)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495/49 "2007-04-17T23:28:34Z")
Heather O’Rourke, died while filming Poltergiest III, while not on set she was sick during most of the filiming and they used a stand in to complete the movie. [link](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001576/) ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495/50 "2007-04-17T23:55:28Z")
[QUOTE=bonzer] [Roy Kinnear](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0455702/) died in hospital after falling from a horse on location for _The Return of the Musketeers_. [/QUOTE] How is it he has two film credits years after his death? ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495/51 "2007-04-18T00:16:51Z")
[QUOTE=Wile E] How is it he has two film credits years after his death? [/QUOTE] They’re voice credits and I haven’t heard of either movie but they usually record the voices for animated movies a long long time before the animation is finished let alone before it is released. I don’t know anything about this guy though. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495/52 "2007-04-18T00:21:09Z")
Didn’t Richard Harris die during the early stages of filming of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban? ---
**Author:** ![Airblairxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Airblairxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airblairxxx)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495/53 "2007-04-18T00:27:16Z")
[QUOTE=mobo85] I’m also reminded of an episode of _The Dick Cavett Show_ which never aired due to an unusual circumstance: during the interview, one of the guests appeared to fall asleep sitting down and started to “snore.” Cavett jokingly asked the guest, “are we boring you?” There was no response: he had died. I’m not sure if they kept taping after this happened. [/QUOTE] This guest was allegedly [J. I. Rodale](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_Irving_Rodale), founder of Rodale Press, publisher of many health-related publications, and noted advocate for organic gardening. This allegedly happened after he bragged that his lifestyle would allow him to live to 100. I say “allegedly” because, even though I have heard this story from other sources, the Wikipedia article can’t come up with any meaningful cites. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495/54 "2007-04-18T00:35:00Z")
[QUOTE=mobo85] I’m also reminded of an episode of _The Dick Cavett Show_ which never aired due to an unusual circumstance: during the interview, one of the guests appeared to fall asleep sitting down and started to “snore.” Cavett jokingly asked the guest, “are we boring you?” There was no response: he had died. I’m not sure if they kept taping after this happened. [/QUOTE] My mom, who was in bed when my dad died, reported snoring-ish noises coming from his throat: apparently excess air in the lungs leaks slowly out, resembling snoring or choking… ---
**Author:** ![troubledwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@troubledwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troubledwater)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495/55 "2007-04-18T00:35:09Z")
Actor Joseph Schildkraut died of a heart attack during the filming of The Greatest Story Ever Told, and the script had to be changed to work around his absence. (This was a few weeks after William Mellor, the film’s director of photography, had dropped dead, also of a heart attack, on set). ---
**Author:** ![8675309](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/8/ea5d25/32.png) [@8675309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/8675309)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495/56 "2007-04-18T00:37:33Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] If you count TV, when Nancy Marchand died during filming of **The Sopranos** they had some awkward edited bits of her before her character died. I wish they had just gotten the phone call instead of what they ended up doing. [/QUOTE] That was the worst moment in Sopranos history. ---
**Author:** ![from\_a\_to\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5fc32e/32.png) [@from\_a\_to\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/from_a_to_z)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495/57 "2007-04-18T02:27:31Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] Any others? [/QUOTE] Martha Mansfield, [Eve Golden’s article](http://www.classicimages.com/1997/october97/mansfiel.html), or [Wikipedia’s description](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Mansfield), during the 1923 filming of [The Warrens of Virginia](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0015471/). Certainly one of the more horrible ways to go. Hopefully your hoop skirts are flame retardant, and none of your colleagues is careless with matches. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495/58 "2007-04-18T04:29:14Z")
[QUOTE=Airblairxxx] This guest was allegedly [J. I. Rodale](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_Irving_Rodale), founder of Rodale Press, publisher of many health-related publications, and noted advocate for organic gardening. This allegedly happened after he bragged that his lifestyle would allow him to live to 100. I say “allegedly” because, even though I have heard this story from other sources, the Wikipedia article can’t come up with any meaningful cites. [/QUOTE] It’s a true story, according to [Cavett](http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060505/news_lz1c05cavett.html) himself. However, the episode was never broadcast, so if you encounter someone who claims to have seen it, you may want to ask that person what he’s been smokin’. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495/59 "2007-04-18T05:11:18Z")
[QUOTE=Steve MB] Not really – Lugosi was already dead when Ed Wood started crafting (if that’s the word for it) the movie around a few snippets of Lugosi footage. [/QUOTE] Yes, Lugosi died of a heart attack in 1956, and _Plan 9_ came out in 1959. Wood used stock footage, then for new scenes used someone like his cousin’s wife’s gardener, someone obscure like that. The replacement had to hide his face with the cape, but he was ridiculously taller than Lugosi, so it’s easy to tell which scenes are Lugosi and which are the replacement. That’s just one of what makes this movie so wonderful. Trivia: Vincent Price used to say that when he and Peter Lorre went to view Lugosi during his funeral, Lorre, upon seeing Lugosi dressed in his famous Dracula cape, quipped, “Do you think we should drive a stake through his heart just in case?” But in reality, neither was actually at the funeral. And Johnny Depp, who played the title role in \*Ed Wood \* (1994), bought Lugosi’s Los Angeles home. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495/60 "2007-04-18T05:44:24Z")
> [@](#): > > Dick Shawn (from the Producers and It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World) died on-stage of a heart attack. Dick Shawn is dead? My brother and I were watching _It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World_ on TV last month and trying to figure out how many of the actors in it were still alive. The only ones I was sure about were Mickey Rooney and Charles Lane (which shocked my brother incidentally). But Shawn was one of the ones I was guessing might still be alive. As you are no doubt now wondering:Edie Adams, Sid Caesar, Barrie Chase, Peter Falk, Stan Freberg, Marvin Kaplan, Charles Lane, Dorothy Provine, Carl Reiner, Mickey Rooney, Arnold Stang, and Jonathan Wintersare the twelve credited cast members still alive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-where-actors-died-during-filming/400495.md?page=4)