# Movies That Reference Real People Who Died During Production **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 23, 2016, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-reference-real-people-who-died-during-production/752937 "2016-04-23T20:18:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-reference-real-people-who-died-during-production/752937/1 "2016-04-23T20:18:53Z")
Awkward phrasing on the title but here’s my question: reviews of the new movie _ **Green Room** _, which opened this weekend, have pointed out that a passing mention of Prince by one of the characters has been greeted with applause by audiences. Can you think of other similar examples of this? I remember two. In _ **Shallow Hal** _, one of the characters mentions a “private Beatles reunion with Eric Clapton filling in for John.” The joke was somewhat awkward because George Harrison had died just weeks before the movie’s release. There was also a reference to Maya Angelou in _ **22 Jump Street** _; she died just days before that movie came out. The only other similar thing I can recall was reading that the producers of _ **Austin Powers** _ had to do some last-minute editing to remove a reference to Princess Diana shortly after her untimely demise. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-reference-real-people-who-died-during-production/752937/2 "2016-04-23T21:18:31Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > The only other similar thing I can recall was reading that the producers of _ **Austin Powers** _ had to do some last-minute editing to remove a reference to Princess Diana shortly after her untimely demise. _Dr. Strangelove_ was similar. In a scene on the bomber, Maj. Kong is reading the contents of the survival kit and ends with “a fella could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas will all that stuff.” They dubbed in “Vegas” over “Dallas” because of the Kennedy assassination. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-reference-real-people-who-died-during-production/752937/3 "2016-04-23T21:26:01Z")
This has happened with “The Simpsons” at least a few times. In one episode, a radiocative emission from the nuclear power plant wipes out a farmer’s corn crop who says, “Oh no, now Paul Newman’s going to break my legs!” Originally, _Orville Redenbacher_ was going to break the farmer’s legs but he died during production so Newman was substituted. There was also the time Homer stole an Oscar that originally belonged to Haing S. Ngor but, after he was murdered, it was changed to Don Ameche. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-reference-real-people-who-died-during-production/752937/4 "2016-04-23T22:35:38Z")
Not quite what you’re looking for, Pope Paul VI died shortly after the release of the movie Foul Play. He wasn’t reference by his actual name, a Pope impersonator was used and given a fake name. The untimely death of the actual Pope (followed soon after by another one) killed the movie at the theaters. Stuff like this is the reason so many movie producers are bald. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-reference-real-people-who-died-during-production/752937/5 "2016-04-23T22:58:24Z")
Early posters, and the first trailer, for _Spider-Man_ contained images of the twin towers of the World Trade Center. By the time the film was released, 9/11 had occurred. The producers removed the footage from the final cut. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-reference-real-people-who-died-during-production/752937/6 "2016-04-24T21:36:01Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Early posters, and the first trailer, for _Spider-Man_ contained images of the twin towers of the World Trade Center. By the time the film was released, 9/11 had occurred. The producers removed the footage from the final cut. Several New York set productions had similar things happen at the time. I think they even altered some Friends reruns to remove some stock shots of the towers. ---
**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 24, 2016, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-reference-real-people-who-died-during-production/752937/7 "2016-04-24T23:39:13Z")
Fay Wray, the original Ann Darrow from the 1933 _King Kong_ died when Peter Jackson was ramping up production for his 2005 remake. He REALLY wanted to give her a cameo in the film, but they had to be content with simply giving her a mention. He did, however, have Rick Baker play one of the biplane pilots. Baker was the guy who designed the Kong face masks and bodysuit, and who played Kong in the 1976 version. Having him play a biplane pilot was a sort of homage itself to the way producers/directors of the original 1933 version Merian C. Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack said “We should kill the sonovabitch ourselves”, and played the biplane pilot and gunner. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-reference-real-people-who-died-during-production/752937/8 "2016-04-25T00:31:48Z")
Austin Powers did not do this, but Princess Diana died 2 months after it came out. In fact, in the UK it came out a week _after_ her death. In the movie, Dr. Evil suggests they make it look like Diana or Charles is having an affair and that they are divorcing. This, number 2 tells him, has already occurred. I never saw the movie before he death, so it has always been slightly odd. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-reference-real-people-who-died-during-production/752937/9 "2016-04-25T01:25:09Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Austin Powers did not do this, but Princess Diana died 2 months after it came out. In fact, in the UK it came out a week _after_ her death. > > In the movie, Dr. Evil suggests they make it look like Diana or Charles is having an affair and that they are divorcing. This, number 2 tells him, has already occurred. > > I never saw the movie before he death, so it has always been slightly odd. Yeah, I misremembered the specifics but I remember there being talk of an awkward reference to Princess Di in the movie. I must’ve been reading about the UK release. Somewhat in the same vein is _ **SpaceCamp** _, which (according to the IMDB), was supposed to be released in early 1986. The Challenger explosion in January caused the producers to delay the release by several months. I’ve never seen it, but apparently the movie contains a booster-rocket malfunction on a space shuttle! ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-reference-real-people-who-died-during-production/752937/10 "2016-04-26T00:09:32Z")
Not a movie but… The musical _Avenue Q_ has Gary Coleman as a character, and there were shows running when the real Gary Coleman died. They dedicated some shows to Gary Coleman, but have continued with the character. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-reference-real-people-who-died-during-production/752937/11 "2016-04-26T13:18:46Z")
[quote=“Stephe96, post:9, topic:752937”] Yeah, I misremembered the specifics but I remember there being talk of an awkward reference to Princess Di in the movie. I must’ve been reading about the UK release./QUOTE] And that fact that it was not a big hit until VHS and by the time we saw it 6 months later on VHS, she was dead. ---
**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 26, 2016, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-reference-real-people-who-died-during-production/752937/12 "2016-04-26T13:55:55Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > _Dr. Strangelove_ was similar. In a scene on the bomber, Maj. Kong is reading the contents of the survival kit and ends with “a fella could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas will all that stuff.” They dubbed in “Vegas” over “Dallas” because of the Kennedy assassination. There was another , larger change in **Dr. Strangelove**. The film was supposed to end with a pie fight in the War Room, and after president Muffly (played by Peter Sellers) gets hit, Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott) remarks “Gentlemen, our President has been struck down in his prime!” They were editing this scebe, ironically, on Nev. 23, 1963. Of course, it had to go. I think that Kubriock would have axed it even if Kennedy had not been shot – it’s too out-of-synch with the rest of the film, but the events made it imperative that it go. Don’t believe ,e? > **[Dr. Strangelove "Pie Fight" Alternate Ending (1963)](https://lostmediaarchive.fandom.com/wiki/Dr._Strangelove_%22Pie_Fight%22_Alternate_Ending_(1963))** > > As most everyone knows, the ending to Stanley Kubrick's 1964 anti-war black comedy Dr. Strangelove: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, ended with the title character (Played by Peter Sellers) emerging from his wheelchair... > **[Dr. Strangelove](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Strangelove)** > > Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (known simply and more commonly as Dr. Strangelove) is a 1964 political satire black comedy film co-written, produced, and directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Peter Sellers in three roles, including the title character. The film, financed and released by Columbia Pictures, was a co-production between the United States and the United Kingdom. > The film, which satirizes the Cold War fears of a nuclear conflict between the ... ---
**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:** [April 26, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-reference-real-people-who-died-during-production/752937/13 "2016-04-26T15:13:47Z")
_Billy Elliott_ has one number, “Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher,” with the lyrics “Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher We all celebrate today 'Cause it’s one day closer to your death.” When Thatcher died, the show was still running. The cast asked the audience whether they should perform the song. The audience voted to keep it. In another example, _Action Comics_ #309 had a story where Superman had to protect his secret identity, so he asked [JFK](http://www.recalledcomics.com/ActionComics309SupermanKennedy.jpg) to play Clark Kent. It hit the newsstands the week after JFK died. There was some outrage, but the issue had been put together months before, and it was already being shipped when the assassination happened. Coupled with the fact that it portrayed JFK in a good light (“If I can’t trust the President of the United States, who can I trust?”), the negative reaction died away. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-reference-real-people-who-died-during-production/752937/14 "2016-04-26T16:59:11Z")
**Spiderman** just made a [post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19284570&postcount=2) in another thread referencing [Joey Coyle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_Coyle) who was the basis for the movie _Money for Nothing_. Coyle was played by John Cusack. Coyle died one month before the movie was released. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-reference-real-people-who-died-during-production/752937/15 "2016-04-27T14:45:51Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > In another example, _Action Comics_ #309 had a story where Superman had to protect his secret identity, so he asked [JFK](http://www.recalledcomics.com/ActionComics309SupermanKennedy.jpg) to play Clark Kent. It hit the newsstands the week after JFK died. There was some outrage, but the issue had been put together months before, and it was already being shipped when the assassination happened. Coupled with the fact that it portrayed JFK in a good light (“If I can’t trust the President of the United States, who can I trust?”), the negative reaction died away. Heck, in _Action_ #1, Jack Kennedy was _murdered_ by, it was implied, a jealous ex-girlfriend. Take THAT, Camelot! ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-reference-real-people-who-died-during-production/752937/16 "2016-04-27T22:32:57Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > > [@Stephe96](#): > > > > Yeah, I misremembered the specifics but I remember there being talk of an awkward reference to Princess Di in the movie. I must’ve been reading about the UK release. > > And that fact that it was not a big hit until VHS and by the time we saw it 6 months later on VHS, she was dead. Maybe it wasn’t a big hit until VHS in the UK, but it sure was in America. ---
**Author:** ![Obeseus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbce88/32.png) [@Obeseus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obeseus)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-reference-real-people-who-died-during-production/752937/17 "2016-05-02T04:07:49Z")
Another change due to the Challenger explosion from IMDB regarding The Cosby Show in which Danny Kaye played a dentist – The original script gave Danny Kaye the line “This is the tooth shuttle, and I need an astronaut!” as he propelled his chair up and down. The episode’s original air date was less than one week after the disaster aboard Space Shuttle Challenger, so Kaye overdubbed that line with “This is the tooth ship, and I need a pilot!” ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-reference-real-people-who-died-during-production/752937/18 "2016-05-02T04:57:40Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > Somewhat in the same vein is _ **SpaceCamp** _, which (according to the IMDB), was supposed to be released in early 1986. The Challenger explosion in January caused the producers to delay the release by several months. I’ve never seen it, but apparently the movie contains a booster-rocket malfunction on a space shuttle! I haven’t seen it either, but a lot of people thought it was disrespectful to put out a movie where a bunch of teenagers at (you guessed it) space camp accidentally launch themselves into space so soon after the Challenger disaster, until it was explained to them that the movie would have wrapped long before the disaster happened. The Spice Girls movie had to have the script revised 3 times, to remove references to Mother Teresa, Gianni Versace, and Princess Diana, all of whom died during the movie’s production, and leaving them in would, because of their nature, have been inappropriate.