The Morbid Film Thread

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Films with two or more actors who died prematurely or of unnatural causes?

Rebel without a Cause: All three leads--James Dean (car crash), Natalie Wood (drowned), Sal Mineo (stabbed)

Gone with the Wind: Leslie Howard (plane shot down in WWII), George Reeves (suicide), Butterfly McQueen (fire; granted, she was in her 80s by then)

Two-Lane Blacktop: Three of the four main leads--Laurie Bird (overdose), Dennis Wilson (drowned), Warren Oates (heart attack in his early 50s)--"and I, James Taylor, survived"

others?

Joe, Wednesday, 12 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

all movies are morbid.
star wars: ben kenobi and uncle owen.

chaki, Wednesday, 12 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

hey chaki, AND Aunt Beru!

katie, Wednesday, 12 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Poltergeist has had several deaths among its lead actors.

Colin Meeder, Wednesday, 12 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The one that springs immediately to mind is Brandon Lee in The Crow. And of course his father died suddenly, surprisingly early, not while actually making a film like his kid though and of course he (Bruce) was megamega talented unlike his spawn.

haloist, Wednesday, 12 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

re: the crow, whoops I didn't note the specifics of the question ie two or more actors died prematurely etc.

haloist, Wednesday, 12 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

You know that one that always turns up on "worst movie" lists with John Wayne as Genghis Khan? Well apparently the government did some nuclear tests where they filmed it, so most of the cast and crew wound up dying of cancer.

Justyn Dillingham, Wednesday, 12 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

COR the trivia question on IMDB today is mental! when they were filming "Noah's Ark" (in 1929 i think i forget) one of the crew quit over concerns that the stunts would be dangerous for any extras who weren't trained stuntmen. and in the event, when the conematic flood was unleashed, 3 people drowned, one lost his leg and loads more were injured! k-k-blimey-o!

katie, Wednesday, 12 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Re "Poltergeist": 22-year-old Dominique Dunne strangled by her ex- boyfriend, 12-year-old Heather O'Rourke died of septic shock (an intestinal blockage misdiagnosed as flu).

Colin Meeder, Wednesday, 12 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The Misfits is often cited in these kinds of cursed-movie conversations - both its megastars, Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe, died soon after making it both of their last movies.

Martin Skidmore, Wednesday, 12 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Ah...Poltergeist and The Misfits, forgot about those two. Poltergeist II was also the last film for Julian Beck (who played the main baddie; cancer), though he was 60.

The Misfits was one of the last films for third lead Montgomery Clift as well as the last for Gable and Monroe.

Joe, Wednesday, 12 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Incubus [cult 60s film with William Shatner]: Milos Milos and Ann Atmar, both of suicide within a year after the film's release.

Lost Horizon: Jack Nance (homicide), Jennifer Syme (bit part; car accident)

Joe, Wednesday, 12 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The Conqueror was filmed on a disused nuclear testing sight. Here's the current status of the main actors in it:

John Wayne? Died of cancer.
Susan Hayward? Died of cancer.
Agnes Moorehead? Died of cancer.
Pedro Armendariz? Committed suicide while dying of cancer.
Dick Powell? Died of cancer.

Dom Passantino, Wednesday, 12 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)


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