From Marilyn Monroe to Paul Walker: 5 actors who died before completing their last movie

Darya Skub News20.10.2024 15:31

Marilyn Monroe and Paul Walker died before reaching old age

Filmmakers often face challenges that require creativity and adaptability. One of the most difficult of these is the sudden death of an actress or actor before the end of filming. What do directors do in such cases? They look for ways to finish the work, paying tribute to the late stars.

In an article for OBOZ.UA, we have prepared a selection of legendary actors who left the world before they could finish their last work. Some of them were replaced by stunt doubles and CGI (three-dimensional computer graphics).

1. Marilyn Monroe

The heart of the legendary American film actress Marilyn Monroe stopped beating on August 5, 1962 (she was 36 years old). It was due to acute poisoning with barbiturates (depressants used as sedatives, hypnotics, and anticonvulsants). She never had time to finish filming her last movie, Something's Got to Give. It seems that this movie was doomed to failure from the very beginning...

The thing is that the director George Cukor and Marilyn couldn't get along - they often clashed. At one point, the star was even fired and filming was suspended. Later, the filmmakers changed their minds and signed a contract with her again. By the way, the actress agreed to return only on the condition that Cukor would be replaced by American film producer Jean Negulesco, whose most famous work is How to Marry a Millionaire, starring Monroe.

The most famous blonde in Hollywood did appear on the set, but then she was found dead at her home in Brentwood, California. A year after the tragedy, the American television network Fox Broadcasting Company released an 83-minute documentary Marilyn, which contained short clips from screen tests and an unfinished film with Monroe.

From Marilyn Monroe to Paul Walker: 5 actors who died before completing their last movie

2. James Dean

The American actor James Dean acted in films for only 5 years and became an idol of the American youth of the 50s. All thanks to the films Rebel Without a Cause (1955), East of Eden (1955), and Giant (1955). This list could be actively expanded, but the last film became the "epilogue" of his career.

James died in a car accident at the age of 24 (September 30, 1955). He was driving a Porsche sports car at high speed and collided head-on with another car... Although he managed to record most of the scenes for the movie Giant before his death, the audio in one key scene was almost inaudible and had to be re-recorded. The movie star was dubbed by his colleague, actor Nick Adams. In addition, since there was no one to replace the character of James, the gloomy ranch hand Jett Rink, the filmmakers partially rewrote the script. Of course, in those years, CGI technology was out of the question.

3. Heath Ledger

At the beginning of his career, Australian actor Heath Ledger played the role of a slick heartthrob (for example, in the films 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) and A Knight's Tale (2001)). Later, he moved on to more dramatic roles in cult films, including Brokeback Mountain (2005), I'm Not There (2007), and The Dark Knight (2008). During the filming of the latter, Ledger, due to excessive "immersion" into his character The Joker, began to use prescription drugs. This affected the quality of his sleep... Soon after the project was completed, the actor took on another one, the film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009). There, he played Tony Shepherd, a mysterious stranger who joined a traveling circus group.

In January 2008, when only a third of the film had been shot, 28-year-old Heath went to sleep in his apartment, where his housekeeper later found him dead. An autopsy revealed that he had died of an accidental overdose of a combination of painkillers and sleeping pills.

What did the filmmakers do? They made minor changes to the script and invited other Hollywood actors, Ledger's three closest friends, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell, to shoot the movie. They portrayed different facets of Tony Shepherd's character in the scenes. To honor the memory of his colleague, the end credits read "A film from Heath Ledger and friends."

4. Brandon Lee

The American actor Brandon Lee, son of the legendary actor and martial artist Bruce Lee, tragically died at the age of 28 while filming The Crow (1994). It happened on March 31, 1993. According to the plot, his character Eric Draven rescues his fiancée from criminals, one of whom tries to kill the brave man with a revolver. Unfortunately, the weapon used in this scene contained a fragment of a real bullet that passed through his abdominal cavity and lodged in his spine... The seriously wounded Brandon was immediately taken to the hospital, but he died of blood loss. The actor was buried next to his father in Seattle's Lake View Cemetery.

To complete the filming of The Crow, the directors used a stunt double, American actor and stuntman Chad Stahelski. Brandon's face was used on Chad's with the help of CGI. Despite rumors that the fatal scene in which Brandon was fatally shot was left in the final version, this is not true. It was cut out during editing. This was reported by Snopes.

5. Paul Walker

In November 2013, American actor Paul Walker, known for his role as Brian O'Conner in the Fast & Furious series, died in a car accident. He was 40 years old. What happened? The actor was in a hurry to attend a charity event for the Reach Out Worldwide organization. He was riding in the passenger seat of his friend's car, who lost control. As a result, the car went off the road, hit a tree (according to other reports, a lamppost) and burst into flames. Both passengers died.

Since Paul did not have time to appear in several key episodes of Fast & Furious 7, the producers were forced to postpone the premiere until 2015. They partially changed the script. Next, they shot 4 scenes with the victim's brother, American actor Cody Walker (he was invited to play Brian O'Conner), and used CGI technology. Finally, they shot touching scenes that were not included in the previous Fast & Furious films. The finished result can be seen in the last minutes of the movie - the song dedicated to Paul Walker by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth, See You Again, is played.