Fatal Method Acting: Difference between revisions

Most of these and more can be found on the Snopes.com listing: [http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/onstage.asp Died Onstage]

 

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* Happened when British comedian [[Tommy Cooper]] had a heart attack on live TV in 1984. He was declared dead on arrival at hospital shortly afterward, although going by the video recording on Youtube it (thankfully) seems like he died pretty much within seconds. Since part of Cooper's stage routine involved frequent minor technical mishaps, the audience continued to laugh even as Cooper collapsed, assuming it was just another gag.

* Yet another heart attack victim: Redd Foxx on the set of ''The Royle Family''. His best known role was on ''Sanford and Son'', which had a [[Running Gag]] about his character faking heart attacks; ''and'' the working title for the show he was filming had been "Chest Pains". Holy [[Funny Aneurysm Moment]], [[Batman (TV)|Batman]]! Due to his role as Fred Sanford, the rest of the cast [[All Part of the Show|thought he was just faking it]] until it was too late.

* J.I. Rodale, author and publisher of ''Prevention'' magazine, died during a taping of ''The Dick Cavett Show''. Cavett's next guest, journalist Pete Hamill, heard a snore-like sound from Rodale and tipped Cavett and the staff to check on him <ref>Both Cavett and Hamill deny that Cavett ever said "Are we boring you Mr. Rodale?" when it happened, as often reported</ref>. Rodale had ''suffered a fatal heart attack''. The episode never aired.

** Ironically enough, Rodale made several quips during that very interview that he had "never felt better" and [[Tempting Fate|"planned to live to 100"]]. He was 72.

 

=== [[Sports]] ===

* British [[Professional Wrestling]] disappeared from television networks and nearly vanished altogether after a wrestler named King Kong Kirk suffered a fatal heart attack in the ring.

* Pro wrestler "Iron" Mike DiBiase had a heart attack during a match in June 1969. Despite an attempt from his friend Harley Race to perform CPR, DiBiase died shortly thereafter. His death was later used to explain the gimmick of his son, "The Million Dollar Man" [[Ted Di Biase]]: the family's life insurance payout was what kick-started Ted's wealth.

* Loyola Marymount University basketball star Hank Gathers collapsed and died of heart failure during a West Coast Conference tournament game in 1990. Gathers had collapsed during a game earlier in the season and was diagnosed with an abnormal heartbeat. He didn't respond well to medication and LMU's notorious fast-paced offense (which averaged 122 points a game) probably didn't help matters. In a [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]], the 11th-seeded Lions went on to the NCAA Tournament where they advanced to the Elite 8 before losing to eventual champs UNLV.

 

 

=== [[Film]] ===

* Brandon Lee was fatally injured on the set of ''[[The Crow]]'' in an accident involving dummy bullets. Unlike the Vic Morrow example, director Alex Proyas destroyed the footage immediately.

* While blank rounds contain no actual bullet, they are identical to regular ammunition, so the weapon will behave almost the same way as during normal use. A gun loaded with blanks does still eject fragments from the plug replacing the bullet and hot gasses at high velocity, producing a quite powerful shock wave at the muzzle, that can still cause serious injuries or even kill at very close distances. Several actors (including Brandon Lee, above) have suffered fatal injuries from careless handling of guns loaded with blanks.

** A similar incident happened on the set of ''Delta Force 2'' two years later. Five people (including a cameraman and one of the actors) were killed in a helicopter accident and two others were injured when the engine failed. Both films had the same lead, director and producers.

* Famous stunt pilot Paul Mantz was killed in the filming of ''[[The Flight of the Phoenix]]'' when he misjudged the rate of descent and crashed into a small hillock.

* In October 2011, a currently unnamed stuntman [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15499964 died while filming a stunt for] ''[[The Expendables|The Expendables II]]'' in Bulgaria.

* On August 2, 1920, during the filming of the silent film ''The Skywayman'', stunt pilots Ormer Locklear and Milton "Skeets" Elliott were flying a biplane during a nighttime shoot. At the end of the scene, they were supposed to make it look like they crashed the plane. The sky was lit with several floodlights. Locklear had instructed that, because he would not be able to see the ground at night, the floodlights had to be turned off as they approached the ground so he would know to pull up. For some reason, this instruction was ignored. Locklear and Elliott died when the plane hit the ground going at full throttle.

* Stuntman Tip Tipping was killed when his parachute failed to open while he was filming an episode of the British series ''999'', which was - ironically enough - a show with the premise of reenacting dangerous accidents.

* Boris Sagal, director of ''[[The Omega Man]]'' and father of actress [[Futurama|Katey]] [[Married With Children|Sagal]], died like Vic Morrow; he was nearly decapitated when he walked into a helicopter blade during the filming of the miniseries ''World War III''.

* Actor Ken Steadman died when he flipped a dune buggy on the set of ''[[Sliders]]''.

 

 

 

=== [[Music]] ===

* Les Harvey, guitarist for Scottish rock band Stone the Crows, was electrocuted live on stage in 1972.

** An accident very like this one -possibly based on it, possibly a coincidence- featured in an educational film for young children about the dangers of electricity in the mid-90s.

* [[Curtis Mayfield]]: equipment falling on him caused severe injuries. He was paralyzed from the neck down though he continued to record. His paralysis, as well as diabetes, eventually caused his death, but it would take 9 years. He still recorded one more album, ''New World Order'', entirely on his back (so that he had enough breath to do vocals).

* Bill Duffield, the lighting director for [[Kate Bush]]'s 1979 Tour of Life, died when he fell through the rigging and onto the stage shortly before the tour's first performance in Poole, England. His death deeply affected Bush and is often rumored to be one of the reasons she [[Reclusive Artist|never toured again]] after the Tour of Life finished.

 

 

=== [[Sports]] ===

* Legendary [[NASCAR|stock car racer]] Dale Earnhardt died on February 18, 2001 on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, one of the most televised races in NASCAR history.

* In 1994, legendary [[Formula One]] champion Ayrton Senna died on the first laps of the San Marino Grand Prix. His steering wheel broke just as he was about to make a dangerous curve, and he went straight into a wall - though what really killed him wasn't the crash, but a wheel's suspension frame that flew and hit Senna's head. He was even airlifted to a hospital, but didn't resist (and since that same weekend a racer died and another broke his nose and arm crashing during practice, FIA ordered redesigns of the track and more investments on car safety).

* During film of ''[[The Last Samurai]]'', [[Tom Cruise]] was nearly decapitated when the animatronic horse he was riding malfunctioned during the filming of the first battle in the forest. If Hiroyuki Sanada hadn't been quite as skilled, his sword would have killed Cruise. As is, Sanada was able to stop his blade within an inch of Cruise's neck.

* John Simm did one of his own stunts in the 2002 version of ''[[Crime and Punishment]]'' and got thrown down a flight of stairs, breaking several ribs and suffering internal bleeding. Initially, he ''refused to go to the hospital'' even after he'd developed a high fever, because the fever and the pain "helped him with the performance" and he didn't want to halt the production. Eventually, they managed to drag him to a hospital.

* Brendan Fraser has a hanging scene in ''[[The Mummy 1999 (Film)|The Mummy 1999]]''. During the scene he was unconscious for a few minutes as people didn't realize he was actually being hung. So that struggling you are seeing? Not acting.

* During her intense boxing training for ''[[Million Dollar Baby]]'', Hilary Swank developed a serious staph infection at the bottom of her foot. She continued on with her training despite this, not telling anyone, until it ruptured and the pain became so severe she checked herself in. It turns out that the infection was that close to reaching her heart, meaning that had she not gotten help when she had, Swank might have been in the hospital for weeks. Director [[Clint Eastwood]] had no idea until much later.

* Nearly happened to Matthew Fox in the last episode of ''[[Lost]]'' due to a real knife (if, thankfully, dulled) not being swapped out for a collapsible one. Luckily, Fox was wearing a kevlar pad. Not only had it been suggested he not wear protection, but he was in the process of trying various other forms of protection; none of the others would've saved him.

* [[Lucille Ball]] nearly drowned in the "shower" episode of ''The Lucy Show''. Vivian Vance saved her by literally pulling her up by her hair, then ad-libbed altered dialogue as Ball gasped for breath. The live audience, unaware of her close call, found it all hysterically funny.

** In another ''Doctor Who'' example, the story "Revenge of the Cybermen" was being filmed in a cavern. Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith) was to drive a boat in a whirlpool. The boat wouldn't run, and the stuntman jumped in and saved her from drowning.

* ''[[The Brady Bunch]]'' episode where they visit Kings Island Amusement Park includes a scene of them on the roller coaster The Racer, which was filmed with a camera mounted onto the ride car. Robert Reed thought that the camera looked unsafe and made them do a test run first. When they did, the camera flew off and would have killed the actors if they had been on the ride.

=== [[Film]] ===

* One gag in ''[[This Is Spinal Tap]]'' is that ''all'' of the band's drummers have died violently. Two of these deaths involved dying on-stage during a live show. Via [[Made of Explodium|spontaneous combustion]].

* In ''[[The Prestige]]'', [[Christian Bale]] accidentally kills [[Hugh Jackman]]'s wife during a magician stunt.

* The tragic ending of ''[[Moulin Rouge]]'' has the heroine die of natural causes (tuberculosis) during a curtain call.

* In the ''[[Midsomer Murders]]'' episode ''The Axeman Cometh'', a singer is killed by an electrified mic stand while on stage. The crowd initially think it's part of the act.

* Played with in an episode of ''[[Supernatural (TV)|Supernatural]]''. A magician survives incredibly dangerous, impossible stunts, but other people have a tendency of dropping dead of the same things that should have killed him.

* In ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]'', Chuckles the Clown was killed at a parade while dressed as a peanut, when an elephant tried to peel him.

* In the first season of ''[[Las Vegas]]'', [[Jean Claude Van Damme]] makes an appearance and gets killed off in a sabotaged stunt.

 

=== [[Theater]] ===

 

 

[[Category:Trivia Trope]]

[[Category:Fatal Method Acting]]