The Munchkin Suicides And Other Stories, No.4
Did a stuntman die on the set of Ben-Hur? And was the cast of Poltergeist cursed?
The Cast Of Poltergeist Were Victims Of A Deadly Curse
FALSE
Plenty of films are dogged by bad vibes, and talk of a Poltergeist curse is as implausible as the movie itself. That’s not to say that the cast didn’t endure their unfair share of misfortune. In the year Poltergeist was released, actress Dominique Dunne was murdered by her ex-boyfriend. Six years later, her on-screen sister Heather O’Rourke succumbed to intestinal stenosis aged just 12.
Throw in the deaths of veteran thespians Will Sampson and Julian Beck (both from cancer) and you could easily believe the rumours about Steven Spielberg’s production company being built on a Native American burial ground.
There’s a problem with curses, though - they’re as easy to infer as they are hard to substantiate. For example, there’s a film that’s never been connected with any sort of supernatural skulduggery, yet its hero died prematurely of cancer, the lead villain passed away just 18 months after the movie’s release, and a leading supporting player fell foul to crippling cocaine addiction. The movie’s name? Casablanca.
A Stuntman Was Killed While Shooting The Chariot Race in 1959’s Ben-Hur
FALSE
So very correct, you so completely wide of the mark. For indeed a stuntman was killed while filming Ben-Hur’s chariot race. The only problem is, it was in the Fred Niblo 1925 silent version.
Of course, looking at Charlton Heston and Stephen Boyd barrelling precariously around the track, you can easily understand how audiences swallowed grisly tales of fatal on-set accidents.
That ‘No stuntmen were harmed during the making of this movie’ is testament to the talents of Yakima Canutt, champion rodeo rider and Hollywood’s finest stunt coordinator.
Not that the studio rushed to dispel rumours of a stuntman being churned into paste by two tons of horsepower. As Heston remarks into his autobiography In The Arena, “We knew how to promote a picture back then.”
And as for that old one about there being a red sports car parked between two of the arena’s pillars? Well, if you believe that, I’ve a pallet of tartan paint that I’d like taken off my hands…
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