Brandon Lee
Probably the best-known tragedy that occurred on a set is that of Brandon Lee, Bruce Lee's son (who also died under strange circumstances).
The 28-year-old actor was filming the movie The Raven (1995) when he was hit by a real bullet instead of a blank one. The firearms specialists mishandled the guns and the fatal projectile struck Brandon's abdomen and penetrated several vital organs. He died on March 31, 1993.
Vic Morrow
Equally tragic was the death of Vic Morrow eleven years earlier. In the early hours of July 23, 1972, the 53-year-old New Yorker was filming a sequence for the film At the Limits of Reality where he held two Asian children, aged six and seven, illegally hired, to simulate that the character was in the Vietnam War. The helicopter that was part of the scene lost control due to several 'controlled' explosions and fell to the ground, decapitating Morrow and one of the children. The other died crushed.
Tyrone Power
The father of the singer Romina Power (famous for the duo she formed with Al Bano) was filming Solomon and the Queen of Sheba in Madrid when on November 15, 1958 he suffered a cardiac arrest while the cameras were filming a take. He was transferred to the current InterContinental Hotel, but, after fainting upon arrival and being examined, he was taken to the Ruber Clinic, where they certified his death at the age of 44.
Oliver Reed
Chosen for the role of Next in Ridley Scott's Gladiator, which already has a cast for its sequel, Oliver Reed decided not to drink alcohol during filming even though he was addicted. With only a few days left to finish production, on May 2, 1999 he entered a pub in Valletta (Malta) where he met five young men from the British Navy and they challenged each other to see who could drink the most.
The actor drank three bottles of Jamaican rum, eight bottles of German beer and several double whiskeys, which, added to some arm wrestling duels, caused him to die of a heart attack at the age of 61.
John Ritter
One of the most famous comedians on American television in the 90s and early 2000s was John Ritter, who while filming the series Not Without My Daughters, in which he appears alongside Kaley Cuoco (who was about to star in the sequel to Daggers in the back) suffered an aortic dissection caused by a congenital disease that was never diagnosed. The Californian died on September 11, 2003, when he was about to turn 55.
Roy Kinnear
Like Tyrone Power, Roy Kinnear died in a Madrid hospital on September 20, 1988 due to a fall from a horse while filming The Return of the Musketeers. This incident caused a broken pelvis, which led to cardiac arrest and, ultimately, his death at the age of 54. The film's director, Richard Lester, retired after the death of the British actor.
George Camillieri
In Troy (2004) there were numerous extras to recreate the fighting armies. One of them was George Camilleri, who broke his leg in a scene fighting with swords and, although it was an injury that was apparently out of danger, the actor ended up dying from two blood clots resulting from the accident.
John Erik-Hexum
On October 18, 1984, while filming an episode of his future series Cover Up, actor John Erik-Hexum died because of what began as a prank: the actor himself put a blank pistol to his temple and fired. The tiny distance from him caused the power of the weapon to fracture his skull and shrapnel damage his brain. After several days in a coma, he died at 26 years of age.
