# Films with actors who died before completion of filming **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 17, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-actors-who-died-before-completion-of-filming/529389 "2010-02-17T20:21:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-actors-who-died-before-completion-of-filming/529389/21 "2010-02-17T21:58:36Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Marty Feldman died during the shooting of _Yellowbeard_. IIRC, they shot a new scene in which his character died suddenly (probably filmed, in part, using a double). Sergio Aragones, the MAD artist, played some kind of mild prank on Feldman earlier that day and apparently felt responsible for his subsequent death. But frankly, wouldn’t we _all_ like to check out courtesy of one of Sergio’s practical jokes? ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-actors-who-died-before-completion-of-filming/529389/22 "2010-02-17T23:45:00Z")
River Phoenix died while filming _Interview With The Vampire_; his part was recast using Christian Slater. He was also halfway through an indie film called _Dark Blood_, which was scrapped. ---
**Author:** ![bettyporkta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@bettyporkta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bettyporkta)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-actors-who-died-before-completion-of-filming/529389/23 "2010-02-17T23:51:27Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Keanu Reeves died at the beginning of The Matrix, but fortunately they found a plank of wood that looked just like him. they could have done the same with Heath Ledger…😃 ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-actors-who-died-before-completion-of-filming/529389/24 "2010-02-18T00:26:47Z")
To go a little further, _Trail of the Pink Panther_was made by Blake Edwards using unused footage of Peter Sellers from _The Pink Panther Strikes Again_ some two years after Sellers’ death. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-actors-who-died-before-completion-of-filming/529389/25 "2010-02-18T03:36:04Z")
David Nivin was too sick to finish his Pink Panther movie. Rich Little had to dub his voice. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-actors-who-died-before-completion-of-filming/529389/26 "2010-02-18T04:36:57Z")
I always wondered what Rich Little actually did for a living. ---
**Author:** ![Neptunian\_Slug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Neptunian\_Slug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptunian_Slug)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-actors-who-died-before-completion-of-filming/529389/27 "2010-02-18T04:56:32Z")
Pedro Armendáriz was terminally ill with cancer during “From Russia with Love”. I think they were able to get most of his scenes in by the time he committed suicide, but I am not sure if he had wrapped everything up. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-actors-who-died-before-completion-of-filming/529389/28 "2010-02-18T10:14:54Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > I always wondered what Rich Little actually did for a living. I hear he’s supposed to be a comedian of some kind. I think it’s of the unfunny kind. 😃 I was going to mention the Dark Knight but then saw post # 23 ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-actors-who-died-before-completion-of-filming/529389/29 "2010-02-18T10:34:53Z")
Roy Kinnear died after falling off a horse during the filming of \* The Return of the Musketeers\*. They used stand-ins and dubbing to complete his character’s scenes. Not a movie, but Gary Holton died of a drug overdose during the shooting of the second series of British show _Auf Wiedersehen, Pet_. Scenes were rewritten so that his character Wayne would be up to something in the next room or otherwise out of shot. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-actors-who-died-before-completion-of-filming/529389/30 "2010-02-18T11:43:50Z")
Roger Delgado (Doctor Who’s first “The Master”) was killed in a car accident while filming Bell Of Tibet. The film was never completed. David Rappaport killed himself after starting work on an [episode](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Most_Toys)of Star Trek TNG. The role was recast, and completed scenes were reshot. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-actors-who-died-before-completion-of-filming/529389/31 "2010-02-18T12:47:01Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > Not a movie, but Gary Holton died of a drug overdose during the shooting of the second series of British show _Auf Wiedersehen, Pet_. Scenes were rewritten so that his character Wayne would be up to something in the next room or otherwise out of shot. They did use a painfully obvious body double as well (he had such a distinctive appearance), and cribbed dialogue from previously shot scenes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-actors-who-died-before-completion-of-filming/529389.md?page=1)