A look back at some of Hollywood’s biggest on-set tragedies following Alec Baldwin prop gun accident
From helicopter crashes to deadly fires and the blank round that killed Brandon Lee: A look back at previous tragedies on Hollywood movie sets after Alec Baldwin shooting accident
Behind the glamour, filming for Hollywood movies is notoriously dangerousThis was again brought into sharp focus by tragic shooting of Halyna HutchinsThe photography director, 42, was killed by prop gun fired by Alec Baldwin The tragedy has grim echoes of the dummy round that killed actor Brandon Lee Lee, rising star and son of Bruce Lee, was shot dead during filming for The Crow Often it is the stunt doubles who are most at risk, putting their lives on the lineBut film sets, involving explosives and destructive sets, are perilous for all
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Behind the glamour, filming for Hollywood movies is notoriously dangerous, with plane crashes, explosions, falling structures and high speed chases all responsible for cutting short the lives of stunt doubles, actors and directors.
This was brought into sharp focus again on Thursday by the death of photography director Halyna Hutchins who was accidentally killed by Alec Baldwin with a prop gun on set in New Mexico.
The circumstances of how the weapon fired a lethal projectile remain unclear, but blank rounds are known for being sealed with wadding to build up pressure which can lead to fatal injury due to the hot gasses and unburned powder expelled.
Actor Jon-Erik Hexum died on the set of TV series Cover Up in 1984 when he accidentally shot himself while playing with a prop gun between takes, not realising it was still loaded with blanks. Wadding struck him in the temple, fracturing his skull and causing brain hemorrhaging which proved fatal.
The tragedy has grim echoes of the blank round that killed actor Brandon Lee on the set of the 1994 film The Crow, who was killed when a fragment of bullet lodged inside the gun was discharged when a blank was fired. It struck his abdomen with the same force as a live round.
Often stunt doubles are used for the most dangerous action, putting their lives on the line for the perfect shot, scaling heights, flying planes low to the ground and hanging out of moving vehicles.
But film sets, with explosives, falling buildings and vertigo-inducing staging locations, have also claimed the lives of actors, directors and crew members.
Here MailOnline recalls some of the worst tragedies to strike on set:
Cut short: Brandon Lee, the son of martial arts icon Bruce Lee, was a rising star before one of the most tragic deaths in Hollywood history cut his life short
The Crow, 1994 – Dummy round kills actor Brandon Lee
Brandon Lee, the son of martial arts icon Bruce Lee, was a rising star before one of the most tragic deaths in Hollywood history cut his life short.
In the scene, Lee’s character walks into his apartment and discovers his fiancée being beaten and raped, before a thug fires a Smith & Wesson Model 629 .44 Magnum revolver at Lee’s character.
In the shooting of an earlier scene, the prop gun – which was a real Smith & Wesson revolver – had been loaded with improperly crafted dummy rounds, cartridges which have the powder charges removed so that in close-ups the revolver appears loaded with normal ammunition.
The crew failed to remove the primer from the cartridges and at some point, prior to the fatal incident, one of the rounds was fired.
Although there was no powder cartridge, the energy from the ignited primer was able to separate the bullet from the casing and push it up into the gun barrel where it got lodged – known as a ‘squib load.’
In the fatal scene, the gun was to be fired from 12ft away, with dummy cartridges being replaced by blanks, containing powder and primer but no bullets.
But the gun was not properly checked and cleared before the blank was fired by the actor playing the thug and the .44 bullet lodged inside the weapon was discharged and struck Lee in the abdomen.
After six hours of unsuccessful emergency surgery, Lee succumbed to his injuries at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, North Carolina at just 28.
Lee’s relatives took to Twitter Thursday to mourn the tragedy on the set of Baldwin’s movie.
‘Our hearts go out to the family of Halyna Hutchins and to Joel Souza and all involved in the incident on Rust,’ read a tweet from the account, which is run by Lee’s sister Sharon Lee. ‘No one should ever be killed by a gun on a film set. Period.’
Lee, the son of martial-arts icon Bruce Lee, died at the age of 28 on March 31, 1993 while filming The Crow in North Carolina. He was fatally hit with a .44-caliber slug after another actor fired a prop gun at him that was thought to have been loaded with blanks.
The Twilight Zone: The Movie, 1982 – Vic Morrow and two children killed by helicopter tail rotor
The tragic accident that killed actor Vic Morrow and children Myca Dinh Le, 7, and Renee Shin-Yi Chen, 6, resulted in major filming code changes.
The scene was supposed to feature Morrow’s character being transported back to Vietnam, where he was supposed to protect two Vietnamese children.
A helicopter, flown by Vietnam veteran Dorcey Wingo, hovered over a mortar effect, which detonated over the rotor and caused the helicopter to crash.
Morrow and Le were decapitated by the helicopter’s main rotor blade while Chen was crushed to death by the helicopter.
The incident lead to legal action that lasted for over a decade, and lead to stringent changes in safety regulations that had not previously been in place.
Tragedy: Tragedy struck the set of Edward Norton’s directorial debut Motherless Brooklyn in March 2018, when fire broke out on the set
Motherless Brooklyn, 2018 – Set Fire Kills FDNY Firefighter
Tragedy struck the set of Edward Norton’s directorial debut Motherless Brooklyn in March 2018, when fire broke out on the set.
The FDNY was called in to contain the blaze, with decorated fireman Michael Davidson, 37, who had been on the FDNY for 15 years, dying on the set.
He had been cited for bravery four times during his tenure, leaving behind a wife and four daughters.
Jon-Erik: Actor Jon-Erik Hexum (left) was filming a scene where he was meant to simulate Russian Roulette, when a cartridge in the gun was fired and fatally struck him in the head.
Cover Up, 1984 – Bullet Cartridge Kills Actor Jon-Erik Hexum
Cast and crew were filming the seventh episode of the 1984 TV series Cover Up, when tragedy struck on October 12, 1984.
Actor Jon-Erik Hexum was filming a scene where he was meant to simulate Russian Roulette, when a cartridge in the gun was fired and fatally struck him in the head.
The actor was rushed to Beverly Hills Medical Center where he underwent emergency operations, but he passed away just five days later at 26.
Tragic: The tragic accident that killed actor Vic Morrow and children Myca Dinh Le, 7, and Renee Shin-Yi Chen, 6, resulted in major filming code changes
Deadpool 2, 2017 – Stuntwoman Joi ‘SJ’ Harris Dies In Motorcycle Crash
The production of the highly-anticipated Deadpool sequel was tarnished when stunt motorcycle rider lost control of her bike and fatally crashed.
Joi ‘SJ’ Harris was filming a stunt sequence at Shaw Tower in Vancouver, when she lost control and crashed into a plate glass window.
It was Harris’ first gig as a stunt rider, though she was an experienced rider, and was the first African-American female professional road racer.
Harris was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident, because her character, Domino, played by Zazie Beetz, didn’t wear one in the scene.
Rider: The production of the highly-anticipated Deadpool sequel was tarnished when stunt motorcycle rider lost control of her bike and fatally crashed
Catch-22, 1970
Aerial photographer Mike Nichols was killed while capturing footage from a B-25 Bomber over the Gulf of Mexico.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, 2017
Crew member Ricardo Cornelius was killed when an unsecured car slid off a rotating platform and crashed into him.
Gone in 60 Seconds 2, 1989
Director H.B. Halicki was killed when a water tower, which was supposed to dramatically tumble to the ground for a scene, fell unexepectedly when a support cable snapped.
He died instantly and the film was halted and never made it to production.
Comes A Horseman, 1978
Stunt double Jim Sheppard was taking part in the final scene where the lead character is supposed to be killed being dragged by a horse.
Sheppard’s head smashed into a fence post during the scene and he was killed. The scene was still used in the final cut of the movie, although it cuts right before Sheppard hits his head.
xXx, 2002
Harry O’Connor, Vin Diesel’s stunt double, was parasailing when he struck his head on part of the Palacky Bridge in Prague. Parts of O’Connor’s final moments made it into the film which is dedicated to his memory.
The Dark Knight, 2008
Stuntman Conway Wickliffe was rehearsing a scene in the Batmobile and was leaning out of the window when the car’s driver smashed into a tree at 20 miles per hour. The driver escaped without injury, but Wickliffe suffered a sever head injury and died at the scene.
Top Gun, 1986
Famed stunt pilot Art Scholl, who also contributed aerial photography, was flying his Pitts S-2 camera plane as part of an aerial stunt sequence.
He entered a spin manouver but was unable to maintain altitutde.
‘I have a problem. I have a real problem,’ Scholl said.
The plane crashed into the sea and was never recovered, it remaning a mystery to this day what went wrong.
The Expendables 2, 2012
Two stuntmen got too close to an explosion set off near a rubber boat during filming for a scene.
The explosion injured Nuo Sun and killed Kun Liu.
Vampire In Brooklyn, 1995
Angela Basset’s stunt double Sonja Davis fell 42ft to her death while filming a stunt for the horror-comedy starring Eddie Murphy.
