10 Actors Who Tragically Died Right After Their Most Famous Role
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00:00The character of Chekhov in Star Trek speaks a kind of Russian that doesn't really exist.
00:08They're creating a singularity that will consume the planet.
00:12Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at actors who tragically died
00:16after the completion or release of their most famous role.
00:19I must take the mantle back, I must.
00:24I must right these wrongs.
00:27Brandon Lee, The Crow
00:37You shouldn't smoke these. They'll kill you.
00:40The son of actor and martial arts legend Bruce Lee,
00:43Brandon followed his father's example, starring in a number of Hollywood films.
00:47While some of Brandon's early roles have gone on to become cult hits,
00:50none broke through in a substantial way.
00:52Take your shot, fun boy. You got me, dead bang.
00:58You seriously f***ed up?
01:01That changed when he was cast as the titular character in The Crow,
01:04which has become Lee's enduring legacy.
01:06Unfortunately, the other enduring legacy of the film was the on-set tragedy that took place.
01:11What is it? What? Speak to me. Speak!
01:17Having completed most of the film, due to a negligent mistake with a prop gun,
01:21Lee was shot in the chest with a blank round.
01:23Though rushed into surgery, attempts to save the young star's life were ultimately unsuccessful.
01:28Anton Yelchin, Star Trek Beyond
01:37Beginning his career as a child actor, Anton Yelchin made ripples across Hollywood from a
01:42young age, starring in both smaller independent films and big-budget blockbusters.
01:46Either way, his performances were thoughtful and profound,
01:50even when playing a part made famous by another actor.
01:52Stepping into the role of Pavel Chekhov for the 2009 Star Trek reboot,
01:56Yelchin found his most well-known role.
01:58There's a problem, sir. What?
02:00Fuel is primed, but I cannot get it to combust.
02:04Captain, we are basically standing on a very large bomb.
02:07If you miss the combustion compressor... I'm not going to miss.
02:09He would go on to reprise that role in two sequels, including a final time for Beyond.
02:14That film, released just a month after a freak accident took Yelchin's life at just 26 years
02:18old, carried a title card honoring his memory that read simply for Anton.
02:23Then we cannot walk onto anyone inside the crater in order to beam them out.
02:27Oh, I could rig up pulse beacons as pattern enhancers,
02:29that'd get the signal out of the crater.
02:31Adrian Shelley, Waitress
02:33If I had a penny for everything I loved about you, I'd have many pennies.
02:38He's making me a poem right here.
02:40First coming to the attention of filmgoers in the late 80s and early 90s,
02:43Shelley came to prominence as an indie darling through the festival circuit.
02:47Over the next decade, however,
02:49Shelley began to become more interested in roles behind the camera as well.
02:52She would go on to write and direct a number of films she co-starred in,
02:56with her film Waitress premiering at Sundance.
02:58Penny for your hair, your navel, penny for your odor, a dollar for your heart.
03:06Oh, Ogie, thank you.
03:09That sure is sweet.
03:11Heartbreakingly, that film would be her last,
03:13as she was the victim of a homicide prior to the film's release.
03:16The film would go on to be Shelley's most famous work,
03:19winning acclaim and even inspiring a hit Broadway musical by Sara Bareilles.
03:31Spencer Tracy, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
03:34Joey, this may be the last chance I'll ever have to tell you to do anything.
03:42So I'm telling you, shut up.
03:44Spencer Tracy had been a prolific star of the screen since the 1930s,
03:48earning multiple Academy Awards and appearing in dozens of films over the decades.
03:52However, the film for which he is best remembered today was his last.
03:56Before you start telling me how much guts I've got,
04:00I told you I'd have something to say.
04:02Now I'm ready to say it.
04:04Alongside his longtime partner, Catherine Hepburn,
04:06he appeared in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner,
04:08which tackled the subject of interracial marriage,
04:11while it was still illegal in 17 states.
04:13As he had been in poor health,
04:15Hepburn remained by Tracy's side during his final years,
04:17living with him when he suffered a fatal heart attack.
04:20I know what the doctor said.
04:21Look, could we get out of here for a few minutes?
04:24Can't we take a ride or something?
04:25What are the others doing?
04:26The film was a landmark in the civil rights movement,
04:29seen by millions, though never by Hepburn,
04:32who described viewing it as simply too painful.
04:35Paul Walker, Furious 7
04:50Walker was unquestionably best known to audiences as Brian O'Connor,
04:54one of the longtime leads of the Fast and Furious franchise.
04:57A co-lead from the first film,
04:59he'd appear in all but one of the first seven films in the franchise.
05:03Along with Vin Diesel,
05:04he became the face of one of the most popular film franchises on the planet.
05:08Halfway through the production of Furious 7, however,
05:10Walker's life was cut short in a single vehicle accident.
05:13With the help of his brothers as stand-ins,
05:16scenes involving Walker were completed.
05:18We needed to have the flexibility to replicate Paul
05:20in any situation the director wanted,
05:22to maintain Paul's legacy,
05:23and to give audiences the film that Paul would have wanted for his fans.
05:27With the film's final scene acting as an emotional send-off
05:30to the character and actor himself.
05:45Peter Finch, Network
05:58One of the most famous speeches in film history
06:01is unquestionably Peter Finch's
06:03I'm Mad As Hell Outburst
06:05from the darkly satirical comedy, Network.
06:18The film quickly became a commercial and critical success,
06:21earning a slew of Oscar nominations,
06:23including Best Actor for Finch.
06:25During a promotional tour,
06:26just after appearing on The Tonight Show,
06:28Finch died from a heart attack in his hotel room.
06:31Two months later, he would go on to win that Oscar posthumously,
06:34becoming the first ever actor to do so.
06:36Today, the film is remembered for its prescient take on the media landscape,
06:40perfectly personified by Finch's performance.
06:57Chadwick Boseman, Avengers Endgame
07:00I accept your challenge.
07:02Chadwick Boseman's star rose quickly in the 2010s,
07:05when he portrayed a number of real, influential African-American figures.
07:09However, his most famous role was a fictional and iconic African figure.
07:14First appearing in Captain America Civil War,
07:16and later his own solo film,
07:17he played T'Challa, aka the superhero Black Panther,
07:21instantly becoming one of the MCU's most popular characters.
07:25However, in the same year he first appeared as T'Challa,
07:29he was diagnosed with colon cancer,
07:31something known only to those close to the actor.
07:33His final outing as the character came in Endgame,
07:36which featured him in a triumphant moment that, in retrospect,
07:39became one of the most powerful in the entire franchise,
07:42as he would pass away just months after the film's release.
07:44He's our friend!
07:46He's our friend!
07:47He's our friend!
07:48He's our friend!
07:49He's our friend!
07:50He's our friend!
07:51He's our friend!
07:53He's our friend!
07:54He's our friend!
07:55He's our friend!
07:56He's our friend!
07:57He's our friend!
07:58Dominique Dunne, Poltergeist
08:00Following a family that unwittingly stumbled upon a curse,
08:03the Poltergeist franchise itself has been said to be cursed
08:06due to a number of tragedies that plagued the cast.
08:09The first and most infamous was the death of Dominique Dunne,
08:12who played the eldest daughter, Dana, in the original film.
08:15Dunne was horrifically murdered by her boyfriend
08:18in the same year as the release of her breakthrough performance in Poltergeist,
08:22just as she had begun to parlay that success into starring roles in TV and film.
08:26With her time cut so cruelly short at just 22,
08:29we'll never know what she could have achieved.
08:32Hey!
08:34It's not my mess!
08:35Oh, thanks a lot, Charlie.
08:37You're welcome.
08:38I'm going to go get some water.
08:39I'm going to go get some water.
08:41I'm going to go get some water.
08:42I'm going to go get some water.
08:43I'm going to go get some water.
08:44Thanks a lot, Jerko.
08:45I got class in 20 minutes.
08:47James Dean, rebel without a cause.
08:49They called me Chicken.
08:53You know, Chicken.
08:55Despite being a film icon and sex symbol for the last half-century,
08:59movie star James Dean only appeared in three major films.
09:02Even more tragically, two of those films were released after his untimely passing.
09:06An avid fan of auto racing,
09:08Dean was killed in a crash at a California junction at 24 years old,
09:12just a month before the release of Rebel Without a Cause,
09:15the only film where he received top billing.
09:17There were other people.
09:18Why should you be the only one involved?
09:20But I am involved.
09:22We are all involved.
09:24Mom, a boy, a kid was killed tonight.
09:28The movie and Dean's performance,
09:30while initially receiving mixed reviews,
09:32have gone on to become a beloved and important symbol for the counterculture
09:36and recklessness of youth,
09:38made even more poignant by Dean's death.
09:40I'm not gonna be lonely anymore.
09:43Ever, ever.
09:46Not you or me.
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10:04Keith Ledger, The Dark Knight
10:06All right, so listen, why don't you give me a call
10:08when you want to start taking things a little more seriously?
10:12After breaking out of Australian television,
10:14Ledger had made a name for himself with American audiences
10:17with roles in films like 10 Things I Hate About You and Brokeback Mountain.
10:21Yet, his most defining role came
10:23when he took on the part of one of film's greatest villains, the Joker.
10:27See, madness, as you know, is like gravity.
10:32All it takes is a little push.
10:36Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
10:39Standing apart from previous iterations of the character,
10:42Ledger's turn was notable for its grittiness
10:44and his seemingly complete transformation into the Clown Prince.
10:47Just months after filming had wrapped, however,
10:50Ledger was found dead from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.
10:53Following his passing, his performance earned near universal praise,
10:57including a win for Best Supporting Actor at the following year's Academy Awards,
11:01making him the second actor to win the award posthumously after Peter Finch.
11:06You see, this is how crazy Batman's made Gotham.
11:10If you want order in Gotham,
11:12Batman must take off his mask and turn himself in.
11:16Are there more iconic final performances we should have mentioned?
11:19Let us know in the comments below.
11:21So, finally, after five years of scratching a living in flea-infested villages,
11:27we're finally going back to where we belong.
11:31The Coliseum.
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