Photo: Alamy
With Hollywood reeling fromnews of the fatal accidenton the New Mexico set of the Alec Baldwin filmRust–– in whichcinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killedand director Joel Souza was seriously injured –– it is tragically not the first time the safety of cast and crew have been put in jeopardy.Here is a brief history of filming gone wrong in Hollywood:
THE CROW(1994)
One of the most famous on-set tragedies occurred in 1993 during the filming ofThe Crow,in whichstar Brandon Lee was killedwhen another actor shot him using a gun that was supposed to have only been loaded with blanks. According to history.com, “police later found that a .44 bullet entered Lee’s abdomen and lodged in his spine, fatally wounding him.” A number of weeks later, an investigation into the accident found that the crew was negligent, but the District Attorney eventuallydeclined to bring chargesagainst the production company making the movie.
MIDNIGHT RIDER(2014)
RESIDENT EVIL: THE FINAL CHAPTER(2017)
THE DARK KNIGHT(2008)
While Christopher Nolan’s Batman sequel is heavily associated with the death of star Heath Ledger, which occurred months after filming wrapped, stuntman Conway Wickliffe was killed during production. Wickliffe, who also performed stunts in 2005’sBatman Begins, was leaning out the window of a Nissan 4x4 operating a camera when the car crashed into a tree, leading to severe head trauma, according toThe Guardian. The stuntman, 41, was pronounced dead at the scene at Longcross near Chertsey, Surrey, England.
XXX(2002)
Vin Diesel’s elaborate action moviexXxlost one of its crewmembers –– Diesel’s stunt double Harry O’Connor –– when he died filming a scene involving paragliding. After O’Connor, a former Navy SEAL, successfully completed the first take, he collided with the Palacky Bridge in Prague and broke his neck, perNewsweek. The film’s director Rob Cohen later released a statement saying: “We had 500 stuntmen involved with this picture; 499 didn’t get a scratch. It shows you the lengths to which we will go to bring this kind of intense experience to the viewer. Stuntmen know they are in danger. They make their living through danger. Most of the time, it’s all right. Sometimes, unfortunately, it isn’t.”
TOP GUN(1986)
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TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE(1983)
Another very famous on-set tragedy occurred in 1982, during the filming ofTwilight Zone: The Movie,when a helicopter crash killed actor Vic Morrow and two children in Santa Clarita, California. Morrow and the children were filming a scene involving explosions, after which debris from the stunt rose 100 feet in the air and damaged the helicopter’s rotors, according toThe Associated Press.Five people, including director John Landis, faced charges of involuntary manslaughter but were eventually acquitted.
COVER UP(1984)
Jon-Erik Hexum portrayed Mac Harper, an undercover CIA officer posing as a male model, for the television seriesCover Upin 1984. While filming the series' seventh episode, Hexum — just 26 — was pretending to play Russian roulette when he fired a prop gun at his head on-set. Though it was loaded with blanks, the force of the explosion fractured his scull, and bone fragments caused hemorrhaging in his brain. Hexum underwent surgery but was eventually was declared brain dead.
source: people.com
