Death on set: people who died while filming

The end of July 2021 saw the death of Jay Pickett. The actor died on horseback while he was waiting to shoot a scene for the western 'Treasure Valley’. Pickett was best known for his roles in 'Dexter', 'Days of our Lives' and 'Port Charles'. His sudden demise from a heart attack, while sitting on a horse, left many of his fans and co-stars devastated.

A tragedy occurred on the set of 'Rust' which reminded Hollywood of the dangers of filming. Alec Baldwin accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchin. She was shot in the shoulder and, despite efforts to stop the bleeding by the crew, she passed away. This is not the first time a prop has failed on set. We look at those who have tragically passed away during the process of filming their next big hit and, for one unfortunate reason or another, never made it to the end of filming.

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Brandon Lee was destined to succeed his father (the extraordinary Bruce Lee) as an icon of action cinema. But his career ended tragically when he was just 28 years old, in 1993. He was filming a scene in 'The Crow', in which his character was shot, and through a tragic accident, the actor was shot for real as well. One of the bullets had not been properly defused (it was not a blank) and hit him. Lee died after more than five hours in hospital.

The veteran Oliver Reed was filming 'Gladiator' in 1999 under the direction of Ridley Scott when he suffered a sudden heart attack. His death, according to some newspaper reports, was influenced by his excessive fondness for the bottle. Legend has it that he still had an unpaid bill (with a mighty long list of drinks) in a pub in Valletta, Malta, the island where the filming of 'Gladiator' was taking place. After drinking heavily and challenging five sailors to a round of arm wrestling, he returned to his hotel, went to bed and never woke up again.

Vic Morrow is a director and actor known for his work in 1960s TV series and some classic westerns like 'Cimarron' (with Glenn Ford) or '1990: The Bronx Warriors'. During the 1982 filming of 'Twilight Zone: The Movie' he had a scene with two children in which a helicopter took off amidst explosions. The take-off failed, the helicopter crashed onto the runway and Vic Morrow was decapitated. Horrifyingly, one of the children was also killed.

The tragic death of River Phoenix in 1993 after a night of excess is Hollywood history. But few remember, however, a title that never saw the light of day and that was being shot at the time: 'Dark Blood', a project that was abandoned after the actor's death. He had also already been cast in classic films such as 'Interview with the Vampire' (his role was eventually played by Christian Slater) and 'The Basketball Diaries' (replace by Leonardo DiCaprio).

Tyrone Power, the golden Hollywood heartthrob, was filming 'Solomon and Sheba' in Spain when he suffered an acute myocardial infarction and died in his hotel bed. A replacement had to be found, Yul Brynner was called in and he reshot the scenes in which the deceased actor had done. The year was 1958.

The actress was filming 'Something Wicked' in 2009 when she suddenly died of pneumonia. A bewildering death for a 32-year-old woman whose previous health problems were unknown to the general public. She was found dead in her Hollywood Hills residence, where her widower died in similar circumstances a year later. An investigation was opened.

He was filming 'Wagons East' in Mexico. John Candy slept in his hotel in Durango and didn't wake up as cardiac arrest ended the life of this iconic 80s comedian at the age of 43. His characteristic overweight build, coupled with certain toxic hobbies (drink, tobacco and some other substances) brought the actor's life to an early end. He died in 1994.

With only three films ('East of Eden' and 'Rebel Without a Cause’ and 'Giant') he became a star with immense fame and prestige. He was a speed fanatic and fan of both two and four wheelers, but he crashed his Porche Spyder on 30 September 1955, killing him instantly. James Dean remains the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations. A promising film career cut tragically short.

Just like James Dean. The end of Paul Walker, star of the 'Fast & Furious' saga, came when he drove a red Porsche Carrera GT, which crashed into a lamppost in Santa Clarita, California. It was November 2013 and the actor still had a few scenes left to shoot for the seventh instalment of 'Fast & Furious'.

It was 1983 and the actress was about to finish filming 'Brainstorm'. She went sailing during production with her husband Robert Wagner (pictured) and Christopher Walken, a good friend of the couple. Natalie Wood fell into the water and drowned. She was 43 years old. It was a death shrouded in mystery: how could she have fallen in, why didn't anyone rescue her? In 2011, the case was reopened and suspicions once again fell on Robert Wagner. But absolutely nothing has ever been proven.

Ledger had completed his unparalleled performance as The Joker in 'The Dark Knight' and was in the middle of shooting 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus', with Terry Gilliam directing. But an accidental drug overdose meant Heath Ledger would leave his role unfinished.

He was one of the greatest performers in contemporary Hollywood and only those closest to him knew about his problems with intoxicants. He was found dead in his Manhattan flat. The cause: overdose. It was 2014 and his performance in the second part of 'The Hunger Games' was, in part, completed by digitisation.

The most successful blonde in world cinema in the 1930s. Harlow filmed great titles alongside James Cagney, Clark Gable and Cary Grant. And at just 26 she suddenly died of a critical kidney failure that doctors believe was caused by the scarlet fever she suffered as a child.

The French actress was the sister of Catherine Deneuve and had an international reputation in the 60s and 70s. Just as her global career was taking off with her role in 'The Billion Dollar Brain' she was involved in a car accident on her way to Nice airport in 1967. She was flying to London to shoot her last scenes in the film.

His fate was recounted by Tim Burton in 'Ed Wood'. Béla Lugosi was already a forgotten actor, when a Z-lister director (yes, Ed Wood) offered him a part in a crazy horror movie about aliens. Béla Lugosi shot a couple of scenes (without sound) and died in 1956 - his heart devastated by a life of morphine addiction. Ed Wood still used those Lugosi images in his legendary 'Plan 9 from Outer Space'.

Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her mansion on 5 August 1962. She had been fired from 'Something's Got to Give' for her repeated absences. Monroe was a troubled woman whose tragic end was always going to come too soon. Another project was up in the air: to play a biopic of Jean Harlow, another Hollywood blonde with a similar story.