Do you think film and television sets are safer today than in the 1950s, or do you think tragic injuries are an inevitable part of the movie-making process?
▬Contents of this video▬ 00:00 - Intro 00:31 - 1. Katherine Hepburn Bathes in the Waters of Venice in Summertime 01:38 - 2. The Conqueror Cast Almost All Died of Cancer 02:50 - 3. The Ten Commandment’s Cast Suffered Heart Attacks and Scorpion Bites 03:34 - 4. Japanese Actor Harou Nakajima Suffered Severe Burns in a Pyrotechnic Accident 04:18 - 5. Charlton Heston’s Stuntman Falls From a Chariot in Ben-Hur 04:49 - 6. Veteran Stuntman Fred Kennedy Was Killed by His Horse 05:14 - 7. Dick York Injured His Back in an On-Set Train Car Accident 05:49 - 8. Actor Tyrone Power Never Made it to the Hospital 06:35 - 9. Did Charles King Really Die on Set After Playing a Corpse? 07:16 - 10. James Dean Died Before Filming Had Finished on Giant 07:55 - 11. Wild Animals and Dysentry on the Set of The African Queen 08:51 - Outro
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It’s a bit hard to find data on how many injuries and accidents actually happened on set since laws protecting actors and actresses were in their infancy, and the studio system was set up to help, well, the studios rather than the performers. Nonetheless, some notable incidents are worth diving into, though it’s important to sort the urban legends from the facts. There were a fair few injuries by horse. In 1959’s Ben-Hur, Charlton Heston’s stunt double came off a horse-drawn chariot, suffering a pretty severe blow to the chin. In the same year, veteran stuntman Fred Kennedy died when his horse fell. The director was so cut up by the incident that he shut down production entirely. A surprising number of people suffered heart attacks on set, too.
While on location filming 1956’s The Ten Commandments, Legendary director Cecil B DeMille powered through a heart attack he had while climbing down a ladder mounted to an Ancient Egyptian city gate. Tyrone Power wasn’t quite as lucky. He didn’t survive the heart attack he had on the Spanish set of the 50s epic Solomon and Sheba. Other injuries of note include burns suffered by Japanese kaiju film actor Harou Nakajima on the set of Varan the Unbelievable, and Dick York’s back injury, caused by a train car accident, left him with lifelong pain.
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Tragic Injuries From 1950s Films & Television
By: Facts Verse Title: Tragic Injuries From 1950s Films & Television Sourced From: www.youtube.com/watch?v=V56an_8kXxA
