July 15, 2019 | Carl Wyndham

41 Facts About Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters


Hollywood magic can sometimes take a toll: here are Hollywood’s most shocking deaths, disasters, and all-out bungles.


41. Cursed

While filming The Crow in 1993, American actor Brandon Lee – son of martial arts great Bruce Lee – was accidentally shot and killed. Unbeknowst to the crew, part of a bullet remained in their prop gun (they had hastily made their own dummy bullets by hollowing out gunpowder from real bullets). The fatal shot, fired by Lee’s co-star Michael Massee, struck Lee in the abdomen. He underwent surgery but died in hospital.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

40. Title Fight

During production for 1969’s Shark, a stuntman was killed on camera by–you guessed it–a shark who was supposed to have been sedated. After the production company used the man’s death to promote the film, director Samuel Fuller quit.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

39. Torture

During a torture scene in Syriana, George Clooney’s chair was knocked over with such force that he suffered spinal injuries. Clooney said he contemplated suicide due to the pain of his injuries.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

38. Blacklisted

Jackie Chan is no stranger to injuring himself performing stunts for his films; he’s broken and dislocated numerous bones and even almost lost his eyesight. As a result, he’s actually been blacklisted by insurance companies and has to cover the cost for any injuries he incurs!

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

37. Animal Rights

After a horrifying stunt in Jesse James (1939) that intentionally rode a horse off a cliff and into a river, new standards for animal welfare in Hollywood were put into place. Even so, the stunt was still included in the final film!

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

36. PETA Wouldn’t Be Proud

No actors or crew died on the set of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, but 27 farm animals – including sheep and goats–reportedly died of dehydration, exhaustion, or drowning as the blockbuster filmed on a farm in New Zealand.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

35. Spine-Tingling

In The Exorcist, actress Ellen Burstyn, who played Regan’s mother, suffered a serious spinal injury in a scene where she fell backwards after being slapped. The scene, and her real scream of pain, made it into the final cut.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

34. Relgious Devotion

Filming duriing The Passion of the Christ got a bit too real for Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus in the Mel Gibson film. He suffered scars to his back from accidentally being whipped during a whipping scene, a separated shoulder while carrying the cross, and got hypothermia from filming outside in winter. He was even struck by lightning!

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

33. Not Just Like Heaven

In one of the most shocking cases of animal cruelty on a modern film, at least four horses allegedly died in Michael Cimino’s western Heaven’s Gate, including one that was accidentally blown up by dynamite. The production was also accused of disemboweling cows, cutting off live chickens’ heads, and staging a real cockfight. The film faced a massive boycott, and was a box office flop.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

32. Evil for Sure

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter stunt double Olivia Jackson had to have her left arm amputated nearly a year after a horror crash during a motorcycle chase scene in 2015.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

31. Eye Opening

During the shocking and iconic scene in A Clockwork Orange where Alex DeLarge has his eyes propped open, actor Malcolm McDowell suffered a scratched cornea and almost went blind.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

30. Hazardous

While shooting a stunt that saw him rappel down a parasailing line and jump onto a submarine, Vin Diesel’s stuntman in XXX, Harry L. O’Connor, hit a bridge and died instantly. The scene, although not O’Connor’s final moments, was included in the film.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

29. Such Things Are Dangerous

The film Such Men Are Dangerous—about a Belgian financier who faked his own death and got plastic surgery to get revenge—suffered a deadly incident of its own. While filming a parachute scene, two planes collided over the English channel, killing all 10 people on board both planes.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

28. The Lion’s Share

What could possibly go wrong on a film set featuring real lions? A lot. 70 members of cast and crew were said to have been injured while shooting the 1981 film Roar, starring Melanie Griffith.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

27. Almost Cast Away

While filming Cast Away in Fiji, Tom Hanks cut his leg. He waited two weeks before seeing a doctor, and only agreed to see one when the swelling wouldn’t go down. He was told that if he’d come an hour later, he might have died of blood poisoning.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

26. Not Expendable

The Expendables 2 stars a who’s who of action heroes—including Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger—so there was a good chance a stunt or two might go awry. In fact, one stuntman died and another suffered severe wounds after a staged explosion on a boat misfired. Stallone and Schwarzenegger also both needed shoulder surgery after production.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

25. Blockbuster, Bone Buster

While all eyes were on Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in the blockbuster Titanic, a number of extras were badly injured during the film’s sinking scene. As the ship rocked about and passengers fell, a number actually broke bones. Winslet also fell ill with pneumonia from filming scenes in the water after refusing to wear a wetsuit under her costume.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

24. Epic Fail

A flooding stunt in the 1928 silent film Noah’s Ark went awry when a temple, rigged to collapse when some 600,000 gallons of water were poured on it, crushed an actress and crew members, injuring them. Legend has it that three people were also killed, though this is unsubstantiated.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

23. Yippee ki-pardon me?

Die Hard’s director wanted a lot of loud explosions—but they left Bruce Willis with permanent hearing loss. In the infamous scene where Willis’ character shoots a bad guy from under a table, a louder-than-usual blank in his gun cost Willis two-thirds of the hearing in his left ear.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

22. SS Viking

The Viking (1931) set some records: it was the first to record sound and dialogue on location, and also greatest loss of life of any film in history. Wanting more shots to finish his film, director Varick Frissell boarded the SS Viking. But tragedy struck: the ship became stuck in ice before an explosion killed at least 27 men onboard.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

21. A Rocky Start

To ensure their sparring scenes looked legit in Rocky IV, Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren decided to have a real boxing match in the sequel. After taking a strong blow to the chest that swelled the tissue around his heart, Stallone was rushed to hospital by helicopter, where he spent eight days in intensive care.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

20. Quicksand

In one of the first ever recorded film deaths, 16-year-old Across the Border (1914) star Grace McHugh was shooting in a boat when it capsized and threw her into the river. Cameraman Owen Carter jumped in to rescue her from the current and pulled her to a sandbar—but it was quicksand, and both died.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

19. Is Clumsiness a Sin?

While filming the crime thriller Se7en, Brad Pitt slipped and smashed his arm through a car’s windscreen. He needed surgery for a severed tendon, leaving his arm in a cast—which was later written into the film.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

18. Achilles Heel

 Se7en wasn’t Pitt’s only film set injury: incredibly, while playing the Greek god Achilles in Troy, Pitt tore his Achilles tendon. However, his wasn’t the worst fate on the film: George Camilleri broke his leg during an action sequence, underwent surgery, and died from complications two weeks later.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

17. A Literal Train Wreck

The Valley of the Giants star Wally Reid was grievously injured when the train he and crew took to the film’s location fell off a bridge and landed on its side. After recovering from his wounds, Reid returned to the film’s set. However, he became addicted to the morphine he was given to treat his constant pain.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

16. Hanging by a Thread

In Back to the Future Part III, Michael J. Fox lost consciousness during a scene where Marty McFly is nearly hanged by Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen and his gang. Someone realized Fox wasn’t just acting, and within seconds, the noose around his neck was lowered.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

15. A Figurative Train Wreck

Not everything Johnny Depp touches turns to gold. His western/action/comedy film The Lone Ranger was a total trainwreck, due to several factors: as its budget blew out, Disney briefly halted production but was talked into finishing the film. Adding insult to injury, Depp was trampled by a horse during filming. A few months after the film’s release, studio bosses said they expected to take a loss of up to $190 million.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

14. The Real Goose

Stunt pilot Art Scholl was asked to film a few background spin scenes for Top Gun. While executing a spin over the Pacific Ocean, Scholl, an experienced airman, radioed to say he had “a real problem.” A support plane soon spotted debris and oil in the water, but neither Scholl nor his plane were found.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

13. Spooky Stuff

A production crew member was electrocuted and six others were injured when a scaffolding pole fell, hitting power lines, on the set of The X-Files in Los Angeles. The man who was electorcuted, Jim Engh, died of cardiac arrest.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

12. The Great Stone Faceplant

Buster Keaton, one of Hollywood’s greats, did his own stunts—which led to numerous injuries. While shooting war film The General, Keaton was knocked unconscious after standing near a live cannon.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

11. Hack Attack

It was intended as a comedy, but outrage over the controversial Seth Rogen and James Franco film The Interview—which includes a scheme to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un—led to a massive hack of Sony Pictures. The hacker group, Guardians of Peace, then threatened an attack on cinemas that screened the film.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

10. Vanquished

The Conqueror, starring John Wayne as Genghis Khan, was shot in an area near where the US military had tested nuclear weapons three years prior. Later in life, 91 of the movie’s 220 actors and crew later developed cancer, and 46 died from the disease.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

9. Steel SNAFU

An extra on Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Gabriela Cedillo was left with brain damage and paralysis after a steel cable snapped, striking her during a car stunt.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

8. They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?

In the early days of film, it wasn’t just humans who were injured or killed on set. The classic film Ben-Hur went out of its way to make a chariot race realistic, promising $100 to the winning stuntman—and killing about 100 horses in the process.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

7. More than 47 Million

Keanu Reeves’ career hasn’t always been on the up and up: 47 Ronin ran an estimated loss of $151 million, adjusted to 2017 inflation. The film was plagued by issues: it shared its name with a Japanese epic, confusing audiences; the studio kept pushing back its release; and reshoots blew its budget by about $50 million.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

6. When Life Gives You Lemons…

At last, a happy accident: A helicopter appearing in the film Attack of the Killer Tomatoes accidentally crashed on tape, wrecking the chopper but making for an incredible shot. The actors weren’t injured, and the footage made it into the final film. Granted, the crash did cost more than the rest of the movie combined.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

No tomatoes were injured!

5. An Expensive Death

During a break in filming the blockbuster Gladiator, Oliver Reed (Proximo) suffered a heart attack and died. Nonethleless, Reed’s character was still filmed after his death, using CGI to superimpose his face onto a body double. Although Reed’s “ghost” appears in only about 2 minutes of film, the effects cost $3.2 million to achieve.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

4. I’m Melting

The actress playing the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz, Margaret Hamilton, was supposed to disappear in a puff of smoke and flames, but the pyrotechnics detonated before she descended through the trap door, and she suffered first and second-degree burns.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

3. Unlucky Number 13

The Antonio Banderas flick The 13th Warrior became one of the greatest film flops of all time. The action film had a budget of $160 million but made just $61 million at the box office. For you math types, that’s a loss of nearly $100 million.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

2. Some Headache

An accident while filming the comedy sequel The Hangover Part II in Bangkok left a stuntman with severe brain damage. Scott McLean was leaning out the window of a taxi when his head hit a vehicle.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

1. Twilight Tragedy

In what’s become known as one of the most shocking on-set deaths of all time, actor Vic Morrow and two child actors, Myca Dinh Lee, aged seven, and Renee Chen, six, were killed when a low-flying helicopter got caught in pyrotechnics on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie and crashed.

Hollywood Accidents, Deaths and Disasters facts

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35


More from Factinate

Featured Article

My mom never told me how her best friend died. Years later, I was using her phone when I made an utterly chilling discovery.

Dark Family Secrets

Dark Family Secrets Exposed

Nothing stays hidden forever—and these dark family secrets are proof that when the truth comes out, it can range from devastating to utterly chilling.
April 8, 2020 Samantha Henman

Featured Article

Madame de Pompadour was the alluring chief mistress of King Louis XV, but few people know her dark history—or the chilling secret shared by her and Louis.

Madame de Pompadour Facts

Entrancing Facts About Madame de Pompadour, France's Most Powerful Mistress

Madame de Pompadour was the alluring chief mistress of King Louis XV, but few people know her dark history—or the chilling secret shared by her and Louis.
December 7, 2018 Kyle Climans

More from Factinate

Featured Article

I tried to get my ex-wife served with divorce papers. I knew that she was going to take it badly, but I had no idea about the insane lengths she would go to just to get revenge and mess with my life.

These People Got Genius Revenges

When someone really pushes our buttons, we'd like to think that we'd hold our head high and turn the other cheek, but revenge is so, so sweet.
April 22, 2020 Scott Mazza

Featured Article

Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIII’s rejected queen—but few people know her even darker history.

Catherine of Aragon Facts

Tragic Facts About Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s First Wife

Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIII’s rejected queen—but very few people know her even darker history.
June 7, 2018 Christine Tran



Dear reader,


Want to tell us to write facts on a topic? We’re always looking for your input! Please reach out to us to let us know what you’re interested in reading. Your suggestions can be as general or specific as you like, from “Life” to “Compact Cars and Trucks” to “A Subspecies of Capybara Called Hydrochoerus Isthmius.” We’ll get our writers on it because we want to create articles on the topics you’re interested in. Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. Thanks for your time!


Do you question the accuracy of a fact you just read? At Factinate, we’re dedicated to getting things right. Our credibility is the turbo-charged engine of our success. We want our readers to trust us. Our editors are instructed to fact check thoroughly, including finding at least three references for each fact. However, despite our best efforts, we sometimes miss the mark. When we do, we depend on our loyal, helpful readers to point out how we can do better. Please let us know if a fact we’ve published is inaccurate (or even if you just suspect it’s inaccurate) by reaching out to us at contribute@factinate.com. Thanks for your help!


Warmest regards,



The Factinate team




Want to learn something new every day?

Join thousands of others and start your morning with our Fact Of The Day newsletter.

Thank you!

Error, please try again.