Gone Too Soon

 

I was watching a movie, yesterday, that I have never seen before, and I felt sad because the actress had died before the film was completed. It got me thinking about all the actors and actresses that died while filming their, unknowingly, last movie. I could have chosen films where the actors did complete their roles just before dying but I went with stars that died before the film was completed and the studios had to get a stand-in to complete the role. Ok, maybe a bit morbid, but I can lean toward the dark side…

1. SARATOGA-1937

This is the film I watched yesterday, for the first time, that stars Clark Gable and Jean Harlow in her final role. The film is a romantic comedy, with dramatic overtones, about a grandfather, played by Lionel Barrymore, who will be losing his stud farm except old friend Gable won the farm in a gambling venture. The granddaughter, played by Jean Harlow, is not happy about , well, everything and is not happy with Gable. Gambling continues, we see quite. Bit of horse-racing and, in the end, Gable wins over Harlow. To be honest, I didn’t care for the writing and so the plot is still vague. I even read the plot and it’s just not sinking in. All I know is that there is gambling involved and racehorsing. Racehorsing was a big deal in Hollywood with many stars going to the track and many owning horses like Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby. While watching this film, I could see that Harlow did not look well-She looked a bit bloated and very tired. She collapsed on the set and, instead of staying in the hospital, she was home with her mom, a Christian Scientist. The story goes that the mom believed in holistic healing so did not believe in hospitals.  When Gable visited Harlow, who was a good friend of his, he smelled urine in her breath. Louis B. Mayer also visited and that was enough for him to call the ambulance. Unfortunately, it was too late and Harlow died of Uremic poisoning at the age of 26. The film was going to be shelved but the public had an outcry to see Harlow’s last film so they brought in Mary Dees to sub for Harlow. Gable had a few more scenes but was very uncomfortable because he felt like he was filming with a ghost. She was way too young to die, but, boy, did she have quite a life in those 26 years.

2. BRAINSTORM-1983

This film stars Christopher Walken as a scientist who, along with his colleague, played by Louise Fletcher, develop a computer program that act7ally record a person’s emotions plus more. Walken is fighting to keep this away from the government who want to use it for their owns needs which may not be in the best interest to HQ Public. Walkin is married, but estranged, to Natalie Wood who becomes embroiled in this sci-fi thriller. Sadly, Natalie Wood died before filming was completed for her character. I remember when she died and all the news reports which included  number of people who heard a woman crying for help in the middle of the night. According to reports, Robert Wagner, married to Natalie Wood,  Wood and Christopher Walkin were drinking, a lot, on Wagner and Wood’s yacht. Their captain was asked to take the boat out and they travelled to a nearby island where they continued to imbibe and eat at some restaurant. They went back on the boat and while anchored on the water, there was a heated argument between the 3 due to rumours that Walkin and Wood were having an off-screen affair. Walking went to bed but Wagner and Wood continued to argue before retiring, sometime after, Wood went overboard and drowned. The official report is that she wanted to leave the yacht and tried to get into a dinghy, in the middle of the night, slipping, hitting her head and falling into the water. Everyone was sleeping so no one heard her pleas for help. I don’t buy that version nor do I believe that Wagner deliberately murdered her. I believe that the 2 were arguing, while very drunk and Wagner pushed her or hit her and she went into the water. He may have tried to look for her or not, but he made no attempt to find her or wake anyone up to help find her. He didn’t want to be found out to be a drunken lout who smacked his wife or pushed her away. Drunk people do very, very stupid things. Natalie Wood had a phobic fear of water so would never have tried to get into a small dinghy in the black water. When she was a kid, she almost died, on set, falling into a man made river scene only to be saved g the nick of time. A psychic told her she would meet her fate in water so Natalie Wood would not have tried to get into a small dinghy. In the end, the producers and the director got her sister, Lana Wood, to dub her sister’s final scenes. Sadly, the film was not a success and Wood died at the young age of 43.

3. GLADIATOR-2000

I can’t believe this film is 26 years old! This is  great epic starring Russell Crowe as a former General for the Roman Army, close to the King who is betrayed by the King’s son played so creepily, by Joaquin Phoenix. Crowe is to be killed but he escapes and rushes back to his family only to find them dead on his farm. He is clubbed over the head and taken to become a slave trying to stay alive as a gladiator. The owner of these slaves is played by Oliver Reed who sees that Crowe is no ordinary gladiator slave and makes him toil so Reed’s group can appear at THE colosseum, in Rome. There, Crowe, who trained the men for combat, excels and beats the other gladiators winning the hearts of the public and the ire of the king, King creep Phoenix. Crowe and Reed did not like each other because Reed scoffed at Crowe’s dedication to his acting and Crowe was pissed off  at Reed’s cavalier  attitude to acting plus his drunken episodes and lateness on the set. Reed was known for his historic alcoholic ventures and uncaring ways to acting. So, one night, after filming in Malta, Reed with his wife, went to “The Pub”  to have a bit to eat and a few pints. Sailors, from the ship, “ HMS Cumberland” came in and Reed challenged these sailors that he could drink them under the table and beat them at arm wrestling. These young chaps had no clue who they were dealing with…Reed drank, wait for it, 8 pints of beer, 12 shots of rum, 1/2 a bottle of whiskey, plus several shots of cognac. He arm wrestled 5 sailors and won each one but then he suffered a major heart attack and dropped to the floor. The ambulance came, but Reed died what he did best-drinking. Ridley Scott, the director still had a few scenes to do, so, using computer technology and a double, they superimposed his face on a double and worked around his character to finish the picture. Reed was only 61 yrs old and I am surprised he lasted that long. At least he died doing what he loved best, drinking.

Do you know of any stars that died before filming ended?