# Movies in which the actor died during production **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 23, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720 "2008-01-23T21:52:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720/21 "2008-01-23T23:28:47Z")
River Phoenix was in the middle of filming two productions when he died: _Dark Blood_, which was abandoned, and _Interview with the Vampire_, which was recast with Christian Slater instead. [QUOTE=Zsofia] Not a movie, but the actress who played Tony Soprano’s mother died during filming and they had her die in the show, but had a pieced together scene with her before her film death that looked really, really fake. [/QUOTE] Yeah, Robo-Livia was horrible. I wish they had filmed some deathbed scenes in advance, since Nancy Marchand had terminal lung cancer and everyone _knew_ she wasn’t going to last much longer, it wasn’t like an unexpected heart attack or drug overdose or something…but noooo. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720/22 "2008-01-23T23:31:35Z")
As I always seem to wind up mentioning in such threads, the much loved British comic actor [Roy Kinnear](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Kinnear) died after falling off a horse during the shoot for _The Return of the Musketeers_. There was a messy aftermath, with a court case about responsibility and Richard Lester, his friend and the film’s director, retiring as a result of the accident. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720/23 "2008-01-23T23:51:37Z")
Although he died after the movie was completed,[Peter Finch](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Finch) one of the stars of the movie “Network,” died while on a promotional tour for the film. He was posthumously nominated, and awarded the Best Actor Academy Award. He was not the first to be nominated posthumously, but he was the first posthumous Oscar-winner. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720/24 "2008-01-24T00:01:16Z")
Jean Harlow collapsed on the set of the film **Saratoga** and died about a week later due to kidney failure. Her role was about 90% complete, so they used her stand-in and shot the scenes from the back, with another actress supplying the voice. Thelma Todd died from carbon monoxide poisoning in her garage. She had three films completed at the time, but her death was so controversial that they reshot one of them to reduce her role. ---
**Author:** ![rostfrei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7bcc69/32.png) [@rostfrei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rostfrei)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720/25 "2008-01-24T00:11:07Z")
I guess we can expand this to tv shows as well. John Ritter comes to mind. Any others? And how did they deal with the death on the show? ---
**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:** [January 24, 2008, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720/26 "2008-01-24T00:27:33Z")
The death of Roger Delgado, most known as the original Master from Doctor Who, scuppered the film _Bell Of Tibet_. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720/27 "2008-01-24T00:38:19Z")
My husband was a speaking extra in the TV production of "[Pudd’nhead Wilson](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087954/) " that starred Ken Howard. One of the actors had a heart attack and died on set. He was the main character in the one scene my husband had lines in. My husband’s big scene ended up on the cutting room floor, so to speak. He said the whole company was very freaked out and upset by the actor’s death. I tried looking through the IMDB full cast and crew list to see if there were any clues as to who it was, but there are several actors whose only or last credit was that particular production. ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720/28 "2008-01-24T01:22:40Z")
[QUOTE=Push You Down] yeah he was found dead in his trailer on the set. The change that was made to the movie was that Candy’s character was found dead in his wagon. That always struck me as odd. [/QUOTE] Are you sure about this? It’s one of my favorite films. I believe John Candy’s character is still alive at the end. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720/29 "2008-01-24T01:42:28Z")
[QUOTE=rostfrei] I guess we can expand this to tv shows as well. John Ritter comes to mind. Any others? And how did they deal with the death on the show? [/QUOTE] David Rappaport committed suicide during the filming of the great ST:NG episode “The Most Toys”: [The Most Toys - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Most_Toys_(TNG_episode)) He was replaced by Saul Rubinek, who really took ownership of the role. Paul Douglas died during the filming of the Twilight Zone episode “The Might Casey”:[http://imdb.com/title/tt0734661/](http://imdb.com/title/tt0734661/) He was replaced by Jack Warden. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720/30 "2008-01-24T02:06:28Z")
Tyrone Power died during the filming of ‘Solomon and Sheba.’ His scenes were reshot with Yul Brynner cast as the new Solomon. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720/31 "2008-01-24T02:11:37Z")
Of course, TV opens many avenues. But it’s usually different: there’s usually a chance to write it into the script. For instance, **Barney Miller** dealt with the death of Jack Soo by having a special retrospective of his work. **Cheers** dealt with the death of Nick Colasante by setting things several months later (he died during the hiatus) and merely saying that Coach had died a few months previously. I actually liked that; you got the feeling that there had been grieving, but it was offstage. Michael Conrad died during the run of **Hill Street Blues**. His role on the show was reduced due to his illness for several episode, and I believe his death was written into the script. ---
**Author:** ![Satellite\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Satellite\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satellite_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720/32 "2008-01-24T03:32:17Z")
**Oliver Reed** died during the filming of Gladiator, and iirc, they cobbled together the final scene with him from earlier footage, including the “ashes and dust” quote… S^G ---
**Author:** ![RachelChristine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@RachelChristine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RachelChristine)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720/33 "2008-01-24T03:54:08Z")
If we are talking TV, remember Josh Ryan Evans who played Timmy on Passions? Due to his illness (I think he had a heart condition or something, but I don’t remember if it had something to do with whatever caused his dwarfism), they had reduced his screen-time. The episode where his character died was aired on the same day that he died in real life. The plan had been to have his character come back as an angel or Tabitha’s conscience or something like that. They had filmed one or two scenes, which were used much later. I wasn’t even watching Passions anymore at the time, but did tune in for that. How sad! ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720/34 "2008-01-24T03:58:44Z")
John-Erik Hexum [Jon-Erik Hexum - IMDb](http://imdb.com/name/nm0382149/) died (of terminal foolishness) during production of _cover up_. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720/35 "2008-01-24T04:18:57Z")
Redd Foxx died during production of **The Royal Family**. He was written out as having died. Peter Deuel died (apparently by suicide) while starring in **Alias Smith and Jones.** His role was recast. David Strickland also committed suicide during his run on **Suddenly Susan**. His role was written out. The show **Phyllis** was really snakebitten. Barbara Colby was murdered after filming the first episode. Her part was recast. Judith Lowery died after filiming an episode where she married Burt Mustin, but before it aired. Mustin died shortly after it aired. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720/36 "2008-01-24T13:16:34Z")
John Spencer in **The West Wing**. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720/37 "2008-01-24T13:46:43Z")
[Diana Hyland](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_Hyland) played mother Joan Bradford on “Eight is Enough.” She died after filming four episodes of Eight is Enough. They made Tom Bradford a widower and later brought in Betty Buckley as Sandra Sue “Abby” Abbott, who he later married on the show. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720/38 "2008-01-24T14:04:42Z")
[QUOTE=Hippy Hollow] (Also features Bruce wailing on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - has to be seen to be believed!) [/QUOTE] It was a laugh, like watching a spider with half its legs missing trying to swat a fly. Also of note, the scene where “Bruce” speaks to someone in front of a mirror. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720/39 "2008-01-24T14:10:12Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris] The death of Roger Delgado, most known as the original Master from Doctor Who, scuppered the film _Bell Of Tibet_. [/QUOTE] It also prompted one of the Doctor’s to leave the show, Pertwee IIRC. [QUOTE=Satellite^Guy] **Oliver Reed** died during the filming of Gladiator, and iirc, they cobbled together the final scene with him from earlier footage, including the “ashes and dust” quote… S^G [/QUOTE] Wasn’t some footage of him CGI too? ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720/40 "2008-01-24T14:24:04Z")
_Poltergeist 3_ had to use a stand in for the re-shoots of the ending after Heather O’Rourke died. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-actor-died-during-production/434720.md?page=3)