Added by SwornShadow on 5 Feb 2014 05:48

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List of (real) film accidents/deaths

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The Skywayman (1920)

Pilots Milton Elliott and Ormer Locklear were killed on 2 August 1920, during filming. Their plane crashed at the DeMille Airfield, along Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles, while filming night scenes.

576

8.4

8.2

Sherlock, Jr. (1924)

While hanging from a water tower, Buster Keaton pulled a rope which released water from the tower, knocking him to the ground. In the scene, he stood and ran into the distance. During a routine physical examination 11 years later, an X-ray revealed that Keaton had fractured his neck

5.9

The Warrens of Virginia (1915)

On 29 November 1923, while working on location in San Antonio, Texas, Martha Mansfield was severely burned when a match, tossed by a cast member, ignited her Civil War costume of hoopskirts and flimsy ruffles. Mansfield was playing the role of Agatha Warren and had just finished her scenes and retired to a car when her clothing burst into flames. Her neck and face were saved when leading man Wilfred Lytell threw his heavy overcoat over her. The chauffeur of Mansfield's car was burned badly on his hands while trying to remove the burning clothing from the actress. The fire was put out, but she sustained substantial burns to her body and died the following day

7.6

6.6

Noah's Ark (1928)

Three people died, one man lost a leg and a number were injured in a scene where several hundred extras were caught in the "Great Flood." The deaths were instrumental in the introduction of film safety regulations the following year

7.6

7.3

Hell's Angels (1930)

Three pilots were killed during the filming. The sole Sikorsky S-29-A, owned by Roscoe Turner, which portrayed a German Gotha bomber, crashed during filming on 22 March 1929 when stunt pilot Al Wilson put it in a spin for its final scene and was unable to recover. He was ready to bail out and called back to his mechanic Phil Jones (who was in the rear of the plane dumping lampblack to simulate smoke) to jump, but he didn't hear him and went down with the plane. Only one brief shot of the spinning Sikorsky was used in the film.

7.2

7.1

The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936)

During the filming of the charge sequence, a stuntman was killed when he fell off his horse and landed on a broken sword that was lying on the field, unfortunately wedged in such a position that its blade was sticking straight up. Also, due to the use of trip wires, three dozen horses had their legs broken and had to be shot during filming, resulting in the U.S. Congress passing laws to protect animals used in motion pictures

3719

7.7

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Margaret Hamilton was badly burned during a scene in which her character, the Wicked Witch of the West, "vanished" in a burst of flame and smoke. A delay in activating a trap door left her exposed to the pyrotechnic device. Her stunt double was also injured in a scene involving a smoking broomstick. Buddy Ebsen suffered a severe allergic reaction to his Tin Man makeup that resulted in a collapsed lung and lifelong breathing issues. He was unable to continue working on the production and was replaced by Jack Haley.

SwornShadow's rating:

2862

8.2

8.3

Citizen Kane (1941)

While filming, Orson Welles tripped down a staircase and chipped his anklebone, forcing him to use a wheelchair for the next two weeks. Welles also injured his hand during a scene where he destroyed a room

SwornShadow's rating:

7.1

7.2

They Died with Their Boots On

Three horsemen perished during the cavalry charge, one of whom was extra Jack Budlong, whose horse tripped as he rode alongside Errol Flynn. As he fell forward, he had the foresight to toss his sword ahead of him. Unfortunately, it landed handle down and stuck in place. Budlong was impaled on his own sword, and died in a Los Angeles hospital a few hours later.

4.4

3.7

The Conqueror (1956)

The exterior scenes were shot on location near St. George, Utah, 137 miles (220 km) downwind of the United States government's Nevada Test Site. In 1953, extensive above-ground nuclear weapons testing had occurred at the test site, as part of Operation Upshot-Knothole. Director Dick Powell died of cancer in January 1963, Pedro Armendáriz was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 1960, and committed suicide in 1963 after he learned his condition had become terminal. Susan Hayward, John Wayne, and Agnes Moorehead all died of cancer in the 1970s. Cast member actor John Hoyt died of lung cancer in 1991. The cast and crew totaled 220 people. By 1981, 91 of them had developed some form of cancer and 46 had died of the disease. Several of Wayne and Hayward's relatives also had cancer scares as well after visiting the set. Michael Wayne developed skin cancer, his brother Patrick Wayne had a benign tumor removed from his breast and Hayward's son Tim Barker had a benign tumor removed from his mouth.

613

8.1

Underground (1995)

6.2

Solomon and Sheba (1959)

While filming a fencing scene with fellow co-star and friend George Sanders, Tyrone Power suffered a fatal heart attack and died en route to the hospital.

252

7.1

How the West Was Won (1962)

Stuntman Bob Morgan, husband of Yvonne De Carlo, was seriously injured and lost a leg during a break in filming a gunfight on a moving train. Chains holding logs on a flatbed car broke, crushing Morgan as he crouched beside them.

SwornShadow's rating:

1610

8.2

8.3

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Actor Peter O'Toole was nearly killed when he fell from his camel. He also injured his hand during filming by punching through the window of a caravan while drunk. A brace or bandage can be seen on his left thumb during the first train attack scene, presumably due to this incident.

169

7.5

The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)

On 8 July 1965, pilot Paul Mantz crashed and was killed on a second take making a low pass.

787

6.6

6.9

Thunderball (1965)

While filming the scene where SPECTRE agent Angelo crashes the Avro Vulcan into the ocean near The Bahamas, the stunt double for Angelo nearly drowned when the stunt double for Emilio Largo accidentally disconnected both the prop oxygen line and the double's actual oxygen line underneath.

SwornShadow's rating:

171

6.9

Battle of Britain (1969)

Spanish air force pilot Don Federico Eglesias Lanzo was killed in a crash at Tablada, Seville.

356

7.3

7.1

Catch-22 (1970)

Second unit director John Jordan was killed when he was sucked out of a B-25 Mitchell while filming a bombing scene. He refused to wear a safety harness while the plane was in flight.

6259

8.2

8.3

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

During the film's pivotal brainwashing scene, Malcolm McDowell suffered a scratched cornea and temporary blindness from having his eyes propped open for so long.

SwornShadow's rating:

4108

7.5

8.1

The Exorcist (1973)

Actress Ellen Burstyn seriously injured her back while filming a scene where she falls over backwards after her possessed daughter backhands her. The scene was left in the film.

SwornShadow's rating:

177

6.1

6.4

The Eiger Sanction (1975)

A number of accidents occurred during the filming of The Eiger Sanction. A 27-year-old English climber, David Knowles, who was a body double and photographer, was killed during a rock fall, and mountaineer Mike Hoover narrowly escaped with his life.

SwornShadow's rating:

5.9

6.1

The Hand of Death (1976)

According to his book I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action, Jackie Chan was completely knocked unconscious when he did the stunts on this film.

259

4.9

4.6

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! (1978)

The Hiller UH-12 helicopter crash involving Jack Riley and George Wilson was entirely unintentional, but having not been seriously injured both actors continued by ad-libbing the rest of the scene, and ultimately it was included in the film.

479

7.3

7.4

Drunken Master

Jackie Chan nearly lost an eye when his brow ridge was injured during a fight scene.

SwornShadow's rating:

145

7.1

7.4

Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978)

Actor Hwang Jang Lee knocked off one of Jackie Chan's teeth after kicking him in the face during a fight scene. Chan's arm was also slashed by a sword that was supposed to be blunt, but the camera kept rolling as he was screaming in pain.

6.3

6.2

Comes a Horseman (1978)

Filming the scene where Jason Robards' character is dragged to (presumably) his death, his stunt double Jim Sheppard was killed when a horse that was dragging him veered from its course and caused him to hit his head on a fence post. The scene made it into the film, although it was cut right before the horse passed through the gate which killed Sheppard.

7.1

The Young Master (1980)

Jackie Chan nearly suffocated when he injured his throat while filming a stunt scene.

5.9

5.5

The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982)

Stuntman Jack Tyree was killed while doing a high fall stunt at Griffith Park in Los Angeles. While performing a 78-foot fall in heavy costume and makeup, Tyree struck his airbag off center, resulting in a fatal impact.

643

6.6

6.7

For Your Eyes Only (1981)

While filming a high speed chase in the bobsleigh run, the four-man bobsled came out of the run at the wrong place and hit a tree. One of its occupants, a young stuntman named Paolo Rigon, was killed. In the scene where James Bond and Melina Havelock are dragged across the ocean, the stunt doubles for both characters suffered cuts and lacerations when their backs scraped against the coral reef in the Bahamas

SwornShadow's rating:

393

6.2

The Cannonball Run (1981)

Stuntwoman Heidi von Beltz was left a paraplegic after being thrown from her car during a crash.

6.4

6.3

Dragon Lord

Jackie Chan injured his chin during a fight scene, making it difficult for him to say his lines and direct the film.

1351

7.7

Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982)

During the filming of the scene for the song "One of My Turns", in which the main character tears apart his hotel room, singer/actor Bob Geldof injured his left hand while ripping off pieces of a wooden closet door; he can be seen briefly looking at his hand. Later in the scene, he is then seen with a shirt wrapped around his hand.

5.5

6.6

Coolie

While filming a fight scene with Puneet Issar, Amitabh Bachchan was critically injured when he jumped over a table and the corner of the table struck his abdomen, resulting in a splenetic rupture and blood loss. Filming was delayed for several months for Bachchan to recover from his injury.

212

7.3

Project A

Jackie Chan injured his neck while shooting the film's famous clock tower fall scene.

501

6.5

Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)

On 23 July 1982, Vic Morrow and child actors Myca Dinh Le (aged 7) and Renee Shin-Yi Chen (aged 6) were killed by a helicopter during production when it was caught in the pyrotechnics flying low at 25 feet (8 metres).The tail rotor decapitated Morrow and Le and crushed Chen to death. The accident led to one of the most prolonged lawsuits in film history and resulted in some major changes in filming codes.

413

7.6

7.8

The Right Stuff (1983)

Stuntman Joseph Leonard Svec died while performing a parachute jump which recreated Chuck Yeager's escape from a stalling NF-104. In real life, Yeager's flight helmet had caught fire on colliding with the ejection seat's heated exhaust in mid-air. Svec carried a smoke canister during his freefall to simulate such fire. However, this may have intoxicated the stuntman, causing him to lose consciousness. He failed to open his parachute and fell to his death.

392

7.5

Police Story

During the film's famous pole sliding scene, Jackie Chan suffered third-degree burns on his hands, nearly broke the seventh and eighth vertebrae on his spine and dislocated his pelvis.

5.5

5.7

The Protector (1985)

Jackie Chan broke his hand while filming a stunt scene.

1241

6.2

6.5

Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

During filming in Mexico, FX man Cliff Wenger, Jr. was accidentally killed by one of the film's explosions.

1424

6.2

6.9

Rocky IV (1985)

Demanding a sense of realism in the boxing match between Rocky Balboa and Ivan Drago, Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren agreed to legitimately spar with each other. Stallone was airlifted from Canada to St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California, and placed on intensive care for eight days after Lundgren delivered a hard punch to his chest, causing his heart to swell and his blood pressure to exceed 200.

201

6.7

6.9

Armour of God (1986)

During the filming of a scene in which Jackie Chan jumped from a wall to a tree branch, Chan lost his grip on the branch and fell 15 feet to the ground below. He hit his head on a rock, causing part of his skull to crack and a fragment to lodge in his brain. He now has a plastic plug in a permanent hole in his skull and hearing loss in the right ear.

291

5.8

5.5

Maximum Overdrive (1986)

Director of photography Armando Nannuzzi was seriously injured when a radio-controlled lawnmower used in a scene went out of control and struck a block of wood used as a camera support, shooting out wood splinters. The splinters were fired at Nannuzzi's face, resulting in him losing an eye. Nannuzzi sued Stephen King on 18 February 1987, for $18 million in damages due to unsafe working practices. The suit was settled out of court.

3071

6.3

6.9

Top Gun (1986)

On 16 September 1985, aerobatic pilot Art Scholl crashed his Pitts S-2 camera-plane off the southern Californian coast near Carlsbad and neither was recovered.

5.7

5.1

Million Dollar Mystery (1987)

6.4

6.1

No Man's Land (1987)

5.7

4.6

The Squeeze (1987)...

5.5

4.8

Braddock: Missing in Action III

4302

7.8

8.2

Die Hard (1988)

SwornShadow's rating:

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

523

5.7

5.8

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)

313

4.9

Cyborg (1989)

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Voters of this movie list - View all

This is intended to be a list of notable accidents which occurred during the shooting of films, such as cast or crew fatalities or serious accidents which plagued production. It is not intended to be a list of every minor injury an actor or stuntman suffered during filming. Stuntwork accounts for over half of all film-related injuries, with an average of five deaths for every 2,000 injuries. From 1980 to 1990 there were 37 deaths relating to accidents during stunts; 24 of these deaths involved the use of helicopters.

While filming can be a fun and exciting experience as professionals we must recognize that accidents can and do happen. Those who tragically lost their lives or became injured during a film's production should serve as a reminder that making a story can be as gritty and dangerous business and I salute them for their efforts and wish them peace and the best.

Some of this tragic events happened that cost actors or stuntmen their lives and permanent injuries for others. Some people were able to walk away from and rolled with it in the moment immortalizing it on film. The ones who couldn't walk away should definitely be commemorated for their efforts and work. Some might be hard to swallow because many are gritty and it can come as a shock to some with deaths looming over certain films especially some of their favorites. But, don't let it deter you from the film if you like it; let it cause you to gain more respect for the process of movie making. Thank you.

(Info and descriptions from Wikipedia)