Being an
actor isn’t all Hollywood glitz and glam. In fact, sometimes it can be downright
dangerous. Take these 10 Hollywood stars, for example. They all have one morbid
thing in common: They died from incidents that occurred while on the set of the
show or movie they were filming. While there are some celebrity deaths that
are just hoaxes and there are plenty of other famous actors — like Heath Ledger
— who died before finishing a project, not all of them died from
something on set. Some of these deaths were the result of natural causes,
while others met a more gruesome end. Here’s a look at 10 actors whose lives
ended before they finished filming their projects.
1. Jon-Erik Hexum:
An unintentional gunshot wound to the head on the set of the
CBS adventure series Cover Up killed Hexum in 1984, writes Access
Atlanta. He played Mac Harper, the Green Beret-turned-model in the TV show that
delved into international mystery and fashion photography. According to Entertainment
Weekly, Hexum had been napping on October 12, 1984, during delays in filming.
When he learned there would be more delays, he jokingly picked up a .44 Magnum
pistol loaded with blanks, said ”Can you believe this crap?” and pulled the
trigger. The blast’s impact fractured his skull, which drove a bone fragment
the size of a quarter into his brain, causing massive bleeding. He was rushed
to the hospital where surgery was performed, however, he remained comatose and
was then pronounced brain dead on October 18, writes Entertainment Weekly.
Cover Up, a show about a fashion photographer and veteran Special
Forces soldier who went on missions around the world, continued production with
a new actor, but never made it past the first season.
2. Vic Morrow:
During the filming of Twilight Zone: The Movie, Morrow
was killed on set in July 1982, along with two child actors, Myca Dinh Le and
Renee Chen, says How Stuff Works. The Twilight Zone script
called for the use of both a helicopter and pyrotechnics, a deadly combination
in this case. During a scene in which Morrow was being attacked by American
Soldiers in Vietnam, the pyrotechnics exploded, severing the helicopter’s tail,
which caused it to crash, decapitating Morrow and killing the two child actors
as well, per Ranker.
Later, it came out that the children who died were going to
be paid illegally under the table. Allegedly, the director was trying to avoid
California’s laws against kids working at night, as well as working around the
potentially dangerous combination of a helicopter and pyrotechnics, per How
Stuff Works. In fact, director John Landis and four others were later charged
with two counts of involuntary manslaughter due to the illegal hiring of the
children. According to Ranker, the jury decided Landis wasn’t expecting
the scene to be dangerous and found the defendants not guilty. Twilight
Zone: The Movie continued on, and the movie was released in June 1983,
performing poorly at the box office.
3. John Ritter
He collapsed while on the set of 8 Simple Rules for
Dating my Teenage Daughter on September 11, 2003. Ritter had become ill
while working on the ABC series and ended up collapsing on set. He was rushed
to the hospital where he underwent surgery for a tear in his aorta, a rare
medical condition that can hit without warning, writesFox News. Ritter died
that evening, per Fox News. The show was retitled 8 Simple Rules and
continued for another season with David Spade and James Garner as replacements,
writes Access Atlanta. Ritter was well-known for his many works in
television and on film, particularly for his role as Jack Tripper in Three’s
Company, according to Madame Noire.
4. Tyrone Power
While filming Solomon and Sheba, Tyrone Power suffered
a massive heart attack on set during a fencing scene. He died on the way to the
hospital on March 15, 1958, according to Ranker. Power first rose to
popularity in 1936 with Lloyds of London, according to about. Solomon
and Sheba was a series about King David’s younger son, Solomon, who he
names his heir ahead of his older son, Prince Adonijah, just before his death.
During Solomon’s reign over Israel, the Queen of Sheba arrives in Jerusalem.
Solomon falls in love with her, but she is in cahoots with the Pharaoh of
Egypt; their goal is to divide the 12 tribes of Israel, according to IMDb.
Eventually, Sheba falls in love with Solomon and chooses to side with him
against the Pharaoh.
5. Redd Foxx
While filming on the set of The Royal Family (co-starring
Della Reese), Foxx died of a massive heart attack in 1991. In an ironic twist,
he had become famous for grabbing his chest and calling out to his dead
television wife, Elizabeth, while he pretended to have a heart attack on the
‘70s show Sanford and Son, per Madame Noire. Foxx was 68 years
old at the time of his death.
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